Tag: Immigrant

Different Beans, Same Pot

They speak in tongues

Who’s to refuse them a taste of the basin we’re drinking from?

A flock of birds who know the worth of unbound beaks

and the soft soil that grows when the sun kisses its cheek

American dream

So close so far

yet those with the greatest reach can’t get no sleep, worlds apart

We flee the phoenixes when they’re just trying to reach the stars

Someday we’ll fly together

But tonight we’ll have to brave this weather

But it won’t last forever

So let us pray for the better

Maybe it’s the beat of unfamiliar drums

You can’t find something to eat

we don’t have enough

we profess answers to questions yet we never turn our heads when our cheek is struck

They are just as much as we

Seeking asylum from the violence

The plight of flying kites to counter pilots, nevermind it

We all bleed as one, tomorrow we may see the sun

We all different beans in the same pot

Blowing steam and licking fingers clean

Different seams in the same tapestry

Extended family

It’s time to forget the language of anguish

Tomorrow’s a new canvas it’s time to paint it

Tomorrow’s a new canvas let’s paint it

Oh, the morrow’s a new canvas let’s paint it

I believe some of the most effective of music and poetry are the simplest yet the most emotionally charged. I aimed to embody a certain feeling of uncertainty, confusion, and hope without the use of convoluted music or literary devices. A 2 5 1 chord progression paired with a soft rhyme is what I thought would work the best for what I aimed to achieve.

This is a poem representing the relationship between immigrants and those who are afraid of them and/or are apprehensive to the idea of people different to them. The poem focuses on the the misunderstandings and fears that xenophobes hold in their heart, the fear that keeps them blinded from the fact that immigrants are struggling to survive in this world, just like them.  The perspective isn’t concrete because I want to emphasize that there is no “we and them”, we are all in the same. The lines surrounding perspective become blurred until there is no distinction between immigrant and non-immigrant.

The first part of the poem compares immigrants to flocking birds, all who appreciate the soil, water and the freedom of unbound beaks in the new land they’re in. I was inspired by my interview partner because her family came to the United States to escape the authoritarian government of China. The poem then focuses more on the natives, Americans in this case. The American dream is best reached by those who are already citizens of the United States, yet they’re constantly bothered, irritated and even angered by immigrants.They might even feel threatened, as though the immigrants could diminish their quality of life and keeping them from living the true American dream of prosperity and harmony. These groups of people “flee the phoenixes” out of fear, unaware that the immigrants are the phoenixes, which are harbingers of happiness and symbols of unity in Chinese folklore. The perspective changes to the xenophobes and the hypocrisy of their actions, especially since the United States is predominantly Christian yet the ideals of Christianity are often twisted to suit personal vendettas as opposed to loving thy neighbor and treating others with compassion. The last part of the poem connects the idea of unity. Unity was unattainable in the first stanza of the poem because the fearful natives “flee the phoenixes”. However, by comparing everyone in the world as different beans in the same pot, an attempt of unity is made. We’re all so varied in our outward appearance and in the texture on the inside, which makes each one of our souls, if you will, unique. We all have our low moments of anger and greed because we’re all human. But it’s time to put all the misery and hate behind us and start a new canvas. A new canvas that waits for the first brush of tomorrow. That is what the stanza hopes for. It no longer embodies any one group of people, but rather the emotion of hope.

Originally I had written the music to accompany this poem with a lot of Chinese influence, which would be carried out by the cello. However, I couldn’t properly record the cello with the appropriate microphone so the sound would end up being very harsh. So I instead opted for a much more repetitive and simple tune using just my voice and the guitar. I first felt as though I had done my interview partner a great injustice. Where would she and her story be in this poem? Besides the reference to the Chinese phoenix, was she forgotten? Of course not. Instead of putting her in the music, I put her in the poem itself. She wears a very young and jubilant demeanor, one that dazzles with optimism and hope. So I wrote the second stanza with her in mind. In that stanza I married the idea for a better future regarding immigrants and nonimmigrants with her sense of optimism. That’s what she gave this poem.

The American Dream

Moving here at the age of five, I was very frightened.
My parents seem to be very thrilled, but I was not as excited.
When we first started living here we were very enlightened, 
But everything still seemed so farsighted.

Going to school, I began to practice the English language,
I got really good, actually really quick.
My mother wasn’t as good which put her at a big disadvantage,
Plus her it didn’t help that her accent was so thick. 

A few years later, when I was about nine,
We were headed back to Vietnam but couldn’t find out gate.
We had a very bad experience with the airline.
When I asked a man for help he was very full of hate.

“If you are going to live in this country, your mother is going to need
to learn English or otherwise it is just unacceptable,”(03:12) he told
us, which I think about daily.
After we walked away, I felt like I needed a tissue,
I hid it from my mother, because I knew it would affect her greatly,
so I tried to make it seem like not too big of an issue.

I had experienced similar situations before, 
But this one really seemed to have stuck with me.
But to this day, America I still adore,
And I am happy to live in the home of the brave and land of the free.
Duy and her mother shopping while in Vietnam

This poem is centered around the story of a dear friend, Duy Nguyen. In this short poem, I used a very traumatic experience that Duy went through to inspire the poem. Being Asian has had its setbacks for her and she has handled them all in stride. She has had people give her dirty looks when she was doing nothing, instant judgment because of her race, and has dealt with a lot of stereotypes that surround being Asian. She claims to “have developed a kind of protective barrier against”(03:50) things that would be racist or stereotypical, which no one should have to do.

One incident Duy faced since coming to America was when a TSA worker was rude and hateful towards her and her mother. As they were traveling back to Vietnam, Duy asked a TSA worker which gate was theirs and how to get there since her mother didn’t speak English well enough to ask. When he tried to answer, he spoke to Duy’s mother. When he figured out she didn’t understand and couldn’t reply, he got very upset and told her that if she was going to live in America that she had to learn English otherwise it’s not acceptable. Duy understood what he said but didn’t want to tell her mother, so she hid it from her. She never told either of her parents what he said and doesn’t plan to. Though this isn’t the first of an experience like this, Duy still believes that America has hope of becoming fully accepting of people of different races, religions, and sexuality.