Asian American Poem

I am

I am a stranger, an apparition at the peripheral of your vision, someone to pass over, a non-entity to be glanced at once then immediately forgotten. I am a pedestrian, someone moving in the flow of traffic a little awkward in movement, and when our shoulders brush in passing, you look back but see nothing. I am silent even when you hear me speak, you put up an invisible shield so my voice crumbles, oh dear oh dear. I am a man typecast into a race, I am a man who carries a country on his back, I am a man who sees everything but is never seen.

By: Yin Chu

I liked this poem because it reminded me a lot about all the issues that we talked about during this whole semester. i feel like the author is trying to portray the fact that asian americans are put into a certain stereotype just as we discussed in class. he mentions that he feels invisible and that although he may see everything he is never seen. most asian americans feel the same way and they feel as though they never have that time to shine through and show their true colors because they are automatically put into a certain role or stereotype that is impossible to break. asian americans do not get the credit they deserve and most of the time this enables the feeling of isolation and weight carried upon them. i know as an asian american i sometimes don't feel as though i am taken seriously and sometimes what i say is heard but is quickly forgotten.



-Amanda