Full Description
Christine Kitano's second poetry collection elicits a sense of hunger—an intense longing for home and an ache for human connection. Channeling both real and imagined immigration experiences of her own family—her grandmothers, who fled Korea and Japan; and her father, a Japanese American who was incarcerated during WWII—Kitano's ambitious poetry speaks for those who have been historically silenced and displaced.
Christine Kitano's first collection of poetry, Birds of Paradise, was published by Lynx House Press. She lives in Ithaca, NY, where she is an assistant professor of creative writing, poetry, and Asian American literature at Ithaca College.
Contents
Table of Contents
A Leaving ... 1
I
Sky Country ... 3
II
Gaman ... 11
February, 1943 ... 12
Equinox ... 13
I Will Explain Hope ... 14
Fireflies ... 15
About the Trees ... 16
III
Leaving California ... 19
Before the Divorce, a Dry Thunderstorm ... 20
Ancestors ... 21
Lucky Come Hawai`i ... 22
Summer: Insomniac Stages Her Love ... 23
Monologue of the Dental Assistant ... 24
Insomniac in Winter ... 26
Monologue of the Fat Girl ... 27
Insomniac in Spring ... 29
Choose Your Own Adventure: Go South ... 30
Insomniac in Fall ... 31
Worship ... 32
Insomniac Starts an Exercise Routine ... 33
IV
Years Later, Washing Dishes, A Vision ... 35
The Night Before Your 28th Birthday ... 36
Roofing ... 37
Bring in the Flowers Before the Santa Anas ... 38
Autobiography of the Poet at Sixteen ... 39
A Story With No Moral ... 41
Friday Night Affair ... 46
V
1942: In Response to Executive Order 9066 ... 48
Grandmother Tells Me a Story: Passing the Lake, Korea, 1952 ... 49
Chicken Soup ... 50
Persimmons ... 52
Earthquake Drills ... 53
For the Korean Grandmother on Sunset Boulevard ... 54
