Open Wide, Look Inside

I love poetry that gives me a glimpse of life in other places, but I also like the affirmation that comes from knowing others so far away may not be so different from me. Here are two books that bring these other voices to life.

This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from around the World, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye, is a collection of poems in a range of styles from sixty-eight countries. The poems are divided into six sections–Words and Silences, Dreams and Dreamers, Families, This Earth and Sky in Which We Live, Losses, and Human Mysteries. Here are two of my favorite poems, both from the section Human Mysteries.

Debt
by Sunay Akin (Turkey)
translated by Yusuf Eradam

I used to drop my pocket money
into the rain grates by the road
taking them for piggy-banks–
that’s why it’s the sea
that owes me most

Jerusalem
by Yehuda Amichai
translated by Stephen Mitchell

On a roof in the Old City
laundry hanging in the late afternoon sunlight;
the white sheet of a woman who is my enemy,
the towel of a man who is my enemy,
to wipe off the sweat of his brow.

In the sky of the Old City
a kite.
At the other end of the string,
a child
I can’t see
because of the wall.

We have put up many flags,
they have put up many flags.
To make us think that they’re happy.
To make them think that we’re happy.

The book ends with notes on the contributors, a world map showing their locations (centered on Eastern Russia, Japan and Australia–a very interesting way to view the world that for us is so often centered on North America), and suggestions for further reading. Readers will also find an index for countries and one for poets. This is a wonderful collection that will allow readers to see how varied cultures are both distinguished and united under one sky.

The Tree is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems & Stories From Mexico, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye and illustrated with paintings by Mexican artists, is an amazing collection from a wide range of Mexican writers. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction.

Now I live in one of the most Mexican of U.S. Cities, in an inner-city neighborhood where no dinner table feels complete without a dish of salsa for gravity, and the soft air hums its double tongue. For some, this may not qualify me to gather writings of a culture not in my blood. I suggest that blood be bigger than what we’re born with, that blood keep growing and growing as we live; otherwise how will we become true citizens of the world? For twenty years, working as a visiting writer in dozens of schools in my city and elsewhere, I have carried poems by writers of many cultures into classrooms, feeling the large family of voices linking human experience. We have no borders when we read.

The book is divided into two sections–People and Earth and Animals. It contains extensive notes on the contributors and folktales. There are indexes of titles in English, titles in Spanish, and writers and artists. Here is one of my favorite poems, in the original Spanish and in translation.

La luna, un plátano
by Jesús Carlos Soto Morfín

Un plátano se fue
de noche
en un avion

Desde entonces
se quedó pegado
en el cielo
y le llaman luna

The Moon, a Banana
by Jesús Carlos Soto Morfín
translated by Judith Infante

A banana left
at night
on a plane

Since then
he’s been stuck
in the sky
and we call him moon

Both the poems and illustrations come in a wide range of forms, exposing readers to the beauty of Mexican culture. This is a lovely volume that brings the magic of poetry to life.

Here are some additional resources related to this topic that you may find useful.

• Naomi Shihab Nye wrote an article for The ALAN Review on poetry entitled Lights in the Windows.
• You can learn more about Naomi Shihab Nye and listen to her read some of her poetry.
• Here is a middle school lesson on poetry and culture.
• This lesson on the language of surprise recommends poems from This Same Sky.
• Check out this thematic list of multicultural poetry.

I was looking over the posts I’ve written so far and suddenly realized that while there has been a great diversity of subject matter represented (I think), there has been little representation of other peoples and cultures. So, it’s high time I remedy that. Today I share two books that present life between cultures.

A Suitcase of Seaweed and Other Poems, written and “decorated” by Janet Wong, is a collection of 36 poems that celebrates all aspects of her heritage. Divided into three sections, Korean poems, Chinese poems and American poems, the poems are preceded by an introduction that describes the author’s experiences with this part of her culture. For example, the Korean poems section begins, “My mother is Korean.” The Chinese section begins, “My father is Chinese.” If that isn’t enough to place the author squarely between cultures, she tells us in the American poems section that she is American, having been born in Los Angeles. The introductions are themselves poetic, and only hint at the beauty of the poems to come. Many of the poems revolve around family and food. Here is one of my favorites.

Albert J. Bell
Forty years of friendship
with my grandfather,
and still Uncle Al cannot eat
with chopsticks.

Forty years of friendship
with Uncle Al,
and still my grandfather forgets
to offer him a fork.

To explore more poetry in this book you can read the story behind the poem GongGong and Susie and hear Janet Wong read it at her web site.

Many of the poems in this collection compare the “old ways” to the “new ways.” This is a lovely book that will help readers get a sense of what it might be like to be a bit Korean, Chinese and American all in one. Those who read the book from start to finish will also get the message that comes through loudest of all–just how much pride the author feels in all these parts of her heritage.

My Chinatown: One Year of Poems, by Kam Mak, is a lushly illustrated book that follows a young boy as he adjusts to his new life in the Chinatown of his new American city. The pictures are so beautiful and finely detailed that in some instances readers may be fooled into thinking they are looking at a photograph. The heartache and longing for home the boy endures can be felt in every poem. These poems are also filled with stories of family and food. Here is the poem that begins the fall section of the book.

In the fish tank,
the carp are crowded
nose to tail, scale to scale.
In plastic tubs on the sidewalk,
eels slither, frogs scramble.
My mother points out the fish she wants.
He waves his tail gently
and looks straight at me.

That night I say I’m sick
so I won’t have to eat him.

This book begins in winter with a poem that starts, “Back home in Hong Kong,/it’s New Year.” It ends with winter again, and a New Year’s Day poem that begins this way.

New Year’s Day!
Noodles for breakfast,
sweet rice cakes.
A red envelope stuffed with money
in my pocket.
And lions in the street outside.

After struggling to adjust, this last poem is happy and triumphant.

Both of these books will give readers a glimpse of life in Asian communities that moves well beyond stereotypes.

If you are interested in more information about this topic, check out some of these resources.

• Elaine at Wild Rose Reader has a terrific interview with Janet Wong.
• The Paper Tigers web site also has an interview with Janet Wong.
• Sylvia Vardell has written a wonderful article on pairing poems across cultures.
• Check out this thematic list of multicultural poetry.
• You can view some of the amazing artwork created by Kam Mak.
• Here is a thematic book list on contemporary immigration that includes books on children from a range of countries and cultures.
• Author Mitali Perkins has a web site that is all about life between cultures. Here you can find a list of picture books between cultures.