Unsettling America : An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry

by Gillan, Maria Mazziotti; Gillan, Jennifer

• ISBN13: 9780140237788
• ISBN10: 014023778X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-11-01
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

A multicultural array of poets explore what it is means to be American This powerful and moving collection of poems stretches across the boundaries of skin color, language, ethnicity, and religion to give voice to the lives and experiences of ethnic Americans. With extraordinary honesty, dignity, and insight, these poems address common themes of assimilation, communication, and self-perception. In recording everyday life in our many American cultures, they displace the myths and stereotypes that pervade our culture. Unsettling Americaincludes work by: Amiri Baraka Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Rita Dove Louise Erdich Jessica Hagedorn Joy Harjo Garrett Hongo Li-Young Lee Pat Mora Naomi Shihab Nye Marye Percy Ishmael Reed Alberto Rios Ntozake Shange Gary Soto Lawrence Ferlinghetti Nellie Wong David Hernandez Mary TallMountain ...and many more.

Author Biography

Maria Mazziotti Gillan is the director of The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey. She is the author of five collections of poetry.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	xix
UPROOTING	1	(50)
Where Is My Country?	3	(1)
Nellie Wong
Dreams in Harrison Railroad Park	4	(1)
Heavy Blue Veins	5	(1)
Luis J. Rodriguez
We Never Stopped Crossing Borders	6	(1)
Wired In	6	(1)
Lamont B. Steptoe
Such a Boat of Land	7	(1)
Immigrants in Our Own Land	8	(2)
Jimmy Santiago Baca
We Are Americans Now, We Live in the Tundra	10	(1)
Marilyn Chin
Elena	11	(1)
Pat Mora
What Were You Patching?	11	(3)
Ruth Lisa Schechter
In Texas Grass	14	(1)
Quincy Troupe
The Old Italians Dying	15	(2)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Dust World	17	(2)
Adrian C. Louis
Father from Asia	19	(1)
Shirley Geok-lin Lim
from Moving	19	(1)
Hamod (Sam)
Katori Maru, October 1920	20	(1)
James Masao Mitsui
Restroom	21	(2)
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Brides Come to Yuba City	23	(2)
Grandmother, a Caribbean Indian, Described by My Father	25	(1)
Yvonne V. Sapia
Indian Boarding School: The Runaways	26	(1)
Louise Erdrich
Braly Street	27	(2)
Gary Soto
The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window	29	(3)
Joy Harjo
Kinged	32	(1)
Shalin Hai-Jew
Dream Poem	33	(1)
Mary Jo Bona
The Last Wolf	33	(1)
Mary TallMountain
Tattoo	34	(1)
Gregg Shapiro
Father of My Father	35	(3)
Lawson Fusao Inada
Letter to a Cretan Flute-Maker	38	(1)
Justin Vitiello
What Do I Know of Journey	38	(1)
David Meltzer
When My Grandmother Said ``Pussy''	39	(1)
Carole Bernstein
14th Street Was Gutted in 1968	40	(1)
Cheryl Clarke
Walking by the Cliffside Dyeworks	41	(1)
Robert Carnevale
The Old Buildings	42	(2)
Pedro Pietri
In Response to Executive Order 9066	44	(1)
Dwight Okita
The Nice Thing About Counting Stars	45	(3)
Next Year, in Jerusalem	48	(1)
Shirley Kaufman
The Survivor	48	(2)
Philip Levine
Sam	50	(1)
Lucille Clifton
PERFORMING	51	(76)
Indian Movie, New Jersey	53	(1)
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Dear John Wayne	54	(1)
Louise Erdrich
When I Was Growing Up	55	(2)
Nellie Wong
Doreen	57	(3)
Janice Mirikitani
Failure of an Invention	60	(1)
Safiya Henderson-Holmes
Today Was a Bad Day Like TB	61	(1)
Chrystos
Filipino Boogie	61	(3)
Jessica Hagedorn
Indian Blood	64	(1)
Mary TallMountain
At the Electronic Frontier	65	(1)
Miguel Algarin
Vision (2)	66	(1)
Sherman Alexie
Translated from the American	67	(1)
Imitation of Life	67	(1)
Michael S. Weaver
The Black and White Galaxie	68	(2)
Blind Solo	70	(1)
Mafioso	71	(1)
Sandra Mortola Gilbert
Digging in the Streets of Gold	72	(1)
Barry Seiler
Matinee	73	(1)
Susan Clements
Deer Cloud	74	(1)
Can't Tell	75	(1)
Nellie Wong
Amazone	76	(1)
Mary Jo Bona
Blonde White Women	77	(2)
Patricia Smith
Cincinnati	79	(1)
Mitsuye Yamada
American Son	80	(2)
Why I Don't Speak Italian	82	(1)
Arthur L. Clements
The First	83	(2)
Grace Cavalieri
Brain on Ice: The El Train Poem	85	(1)
Michael Warr
Malcolm Is 'Bout More Than Wearing a Cap	86	(2)
American Dream: First Report	88	(1)
Joseph Papaleo
Behaving Like a Jew	88	(1)
Gerald Stern
The Mary Morelle Show	89	(5)
Denise Nico Leto
To H.N.	94	(1)
David Mura
My Rich Uncle, Whom I Only Met Three Times	95	(2)
Marge Piercy
Untitled Blues	97	(1)
Yusef Komunyakaa
Second Class Citizen	98	(1)
Jennifer Lagier
Three Gypsies	99	(1)
Shalin Hai-Jew
from Sweet Daddy	100	(2)
Patricia Smith
What It's Like to Be a Black Girl (For Those of You Who Aren't)	102	(1)
Starlight Haven	103	(1)
Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Black and White	104	(2)
Barrio Beateo	106	(1)
Jesse F. Garcia
Welcome	107	(1)
David Hernandez
Tee	108	(1)
Reuben Jackson
Big Chill Variations	108	(1)
Albert James	109	(1)
A Daddy Poem	110	(1)
William J. Harris
Song No. 3	111	(1)
Sonia Sanchez
Song at Midnight	111	(1)
Lucille Clifton
Junior High Dance	112	(2)
Allison Joseph
What Would I Do White?	114	(1)
June Jordan
So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from Americans	115	(1)
Jimmy Santiago Baca
Poet: What Ever Happened to Luther?	116	(1)
Haki R. Madhubuti
That Great Wingless Bird	117	(2)
Adrian C. Louis
Immigrants	119	(1)
Pat Mora
Depression Days	119	(1)
A Note on My Son's Face	120	(3)
Toi Derricotte
Blackbottom	123	(1)
Lost Name Woman	124	(1)
Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Coca-Cola and Coco Frio	124	(3)
Martin Espada
NAMING	127	(86)
Senora X No More	129	(1)
Pat Mora
Dying with the Wrong Name	130	(2)
Hamod (Sam)
Leaves	132	(2)
How I Got That Name	134	(2)
Marilyn Chin
Elegy for Chloe Nguyen	136	(2)
Niggerlips	138	(1)
Martin Espada
From an Island You Cannot Name	139	(1)
Mama, Come Back	139	(2)
Nellie Wong
On the Road to Damascus, Maryland	141	(1)
Enid Dame
How I Changed My Name, Felice	142	(1)
Felix Stefanile
Jade	143	(1)
Janice Mirikitani
Being Jewish in a Small Town	144	(1)
Lyn Lifshin
We Exist	145	(1)
Janice Gould
Jacket Notes	146	(1)
Ishmael Reed
Having the Wrong Name for Mr. Wright	147	(2)
Helen Barolini
Taking It Back	149	(2)
Dixie Salazar
Pinon Nuts	151	(2)
The Hula Skirt, 1959	153	(1)
Kimiko Hahn
Song of the Third Generation	154	(1)
Julia Lisella
Ka 'Ba	155	(1)
Amiri Baraka
Funk Lore	156	(2)
American Sonnets for My Father	158	(2)
Daniela Gioseffi
Pigeons	160	(1)
David Hernandez
A Poem about Intelligence for My Brothers and Sisters	161	(2)
June Jordan
For Talking	163	(2)
Denise Nico Leto
The Language of Great-Aunts	165	(1)
Alberto Alvaro Rios
Nani	166	(1)
Espresso	167	(3)
Carol Lee Saffioti
Secret Love	170	(1)
Milton Kessler
Good Grease	171	(1)
Mary TallMountain
6th Grade---Our Lady of Pompeii	172	(1)
Vittoria repetto
Mama	173	(3)
Claire Kageyama
Preparations for Seder	176	(1)
Michael S. Glaser
Changing Address Books	177	(2)
Crazy Horse Monument	179	(1)
Peter Blue Cloud
from Prose Poems	180	(1)
Liz Rosenberg
In Answer to Their Questions	181	(4)
Giovanna (Janet) Capone
All I Want	185	(1)
Luci Tapahonso
Two Grandmas	186	(2)
Stanley H. Barkan
South Bronx Testimonial	188	(2)
Sandra Maria Esteves
Grandma in the Shower	190	(1)
Dale M. Kushner
Haciendo Apenas la Recoleccion	191	(1)
Tino Villanueva
On Alabama Ave., Paterson, NJ, 1954	192	(1)
Rachel Guido deVries
From Okra to Greens	193	(1)
Ntozake Shange
But My Blood	194	(1)
Rose Romano
So I Lost My Temper	195	(2)
For My Great-Grandfather: A Message Long Overdue	197	(1)
Maxine Kumin
Bulosan Listens to a Recording of Robert Johnson	198	(1)
Alfred Encarnacion
Miss Clement's Second Grade	199	(1)
Maryfrances Cusumano Wagner
Recognized Futures	200	(2)
Lisa Suhair Majaj
The Left Bank Jazz Society	202	(1)
Michael S. Weaver
Blood	203	(1)
Naomi Shihab Nye
Mnemonic	204	(1)
Li-Young Lee
The Gift	205	(1)
Nikki-Rosa	206	(1)
Nikki Giovanni
Legacies	207	(1)
Because of My Father's Job	208	(1)
James Masao Mitsui
Yuba City School	209	(1)
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
How I Learned English	210	(3)
Gregory Djanikian
NEGOTIATING	213	(88)
In the Elementary School Choir	215	(2)
Gregory Djanikian
When I First Saw Snow	217	(1)
Black Hair	217	(1)
Gary Soto
The Elements of San Joaquin	218	(1)
Behind Grandma's House	219	(1)
Always Running	220	(2)
Luis J. Rodriguez
Fire	222	(2)
The Dancing	224	(1)
Gerald Stern
In Memory We Are Walking	224	(2)
Maria Mazziotti Gillan
I Remember Haifa Being Lovely But	226	(1)
Lyn Lifshin
A Black Man's Sonata	227	(2)
Michael S. Weaver
Improvisation for Piano	229	(1)
Winnings	230	(1)
Garrett Hongo
Susans	231	(2)
Susan Clements
The Reservation	233	(1)
English-Speaking Persons Will Find Translations	234	(3)
Michael S. Glaser
Crazy Horse Speaks	237	(3)
Sherman Alexie
Powwow Polaroid	240	(1)
Soul Make a Path Through Shouting	241	(1)
Cyrus Cassells
The Battle, Over and Over Again	242	(3)
Safiya Henderson-Holmes
A Story About Chicken Soup	245	(1)
Louis Simpson
Salt	246	(1)
Yusef Komunyakaa
Something About Being an Indian	247	(1)
Adrian C. Louis
Poem for the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, an Intelligent, Well-Read Person, Could Believe in the War Between Races	248	(2)
Lorna Dee Cervantes
Election Time	250	(1)
Lamont B. Steptoe
Bicentennial Anti-Poem for Italian-American Women	251	(1)
Daniela Gioseffi
The Yahrtzeit Light	252	(2)
Lyn Lifshin
After the Anti-Semitic Calls on a Local Talk Station	254	(1)
An Agony. As Now	255	(1)
Amiri Baraka
Notes for a Poem on Being Asian American	256	(2)
Dwight Okita
Portrait of Assimilation	258	(1)
Chrystos
The Jewish Singles Event	258	(1)
Stewart Florsheim
Coming of Age	259	(2)
Michael Palma
At the Nuclear Rally	261	(1)
Laura Boss
The Candy Lady	262	(1)
My Father and the Figtree	263	(1)
Naomi Shihab Nye
Half-Breed	264	(1)
Cherrie Moraga
Modern Secrets	265	(1)
Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Grandfather at the Indian Health Clinic	265	(1)
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn
Birdfoot's Grampa	266	(1)
Joseph Bruchac
Undressing Aunt Frieda	267	(1)
Richard Michelson
Rib Sandwich	268	(1)
William J. Harris
Going Home	268	(2)
Wing Tek Lum
Upkeep	270	(1)
Miriam Goodman
Armitage Street	271	(2)
David Hernandez
Laughing Gas	273	(1)
Ruth Whitman
Elegy	273	(2)
Arthur L. Clements
Foreign Ways	275	(1)
Diana Chang
Autobiography	275	(1)
Robert Viscusi
Horse	276	(2)
Gloria Anzaldua
Travels in the South	278	(3)
Simon J. Ortiz
Grandmother	281	(1)
Grace Cavalieri
Living Alone with Jesus	282	(1)
Maxine Kumin
The Sweaters	283	(1)
Lucia Maria Perillo
Heritage	284	(2)
Linda Hogan
Lakota Sister/Cherokee Mother	286	(1)
Victoria Lena Manyarrows
Wingfoot Lake	287	(1)
Rita Dove
After the Funeral of Assam Hamady	288	(4)
Hamod (Sam)
Friendly Town #1	292	(2)
Safiya Henderson-Holmes
My First Riot: Bronx, NYC	294	(1)
The Truth Is	295	(2)
Linda Hogan
Hanging Fire	297	(1)
Audre Lorde
In the Way Back	298	(2)
Debi Kang Dean
Cultures	300	(1)
Gloria Anzaldua
RE-ENVISIONING	301	(84)
I Ask My Mother to Sing	303	(1)
Li-Young Lee
I Walk in the History of My People	303	(1)
Chrystos
I Have Not Signed a Treaty with the United States Government	304	(1)
The Real Indian Leans Against	305	(1)
Night Vision	306	(1)
Lucille Clifton
In the Inner City	307	(1)
The House on Moscow Street	307	(2)
Marilyn Nelson Waniek
To Jesus Villanueva, with Love	309	(3)
Alma Luz Villanueva
They Didn't Get Me	312	(2)
My People Are the Color of the Earth	314	(2)
From a Heart of Rice Straw	316	(2)
Nellie Wong
April Fool Birthday Poem for Grandpa	318	(1)
Diane di Prima
Bully	319	(1)
Martin Espada
Anchorage	320	(1)
Joy Harjo
For Alva Benson, and for Those Who Have Learned to Speak	321	(1)
Chinese Hot Pot	322	(1)
Wing Tek Lum
The Seder	323	(2)
Enid Dame
The Bucket	325	(2)
Rose Romano
Speaking with Hands	327	(1)
Luis J. Rodriguez
Song: I Want a Witness	328	(1)
Michael S. Harper
In the Good Old U.S.A.	328	(2)
Jose Angel Villalongo, Sr.
Today We Will Not Be Invisible Nor Silent	330	(1)
Victoria Lena Manyarrows
The View from Skates in Berkeley	331	(2)
Quincy Troupe
I Defy You	333	(1)
Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Prayer	333	(1)
Joseph Bruchac
Lamenting the Inevitable	334	(1)
Alicia Ostriker
Speaking Through White: For My Mother	335	(2)
Kyoko Mori
Certificate of Live Birth	337	(1)
Kimberly M. Blaeser
Cortez's Horse	338	(2)
Pat Mora
Oye Mundo/ Sometimes	340	(2)
Jesus Papoleto Melendez
The Men	342	(1)
E. Ethelbert Miller
The New Apartment: Minneapolis	343	(2)
Linda Hogan
A Dance for Ma Rainey	345	(1)
Al Young
I Ain't Going to Hurry No More	346	(1)
Jesse F. Garcia
Praise the Tortilla, Praise the Menudo, Praise the Chorizo	347	(1)
Ray Gonzalez
The Last Word	348	(1)
Amina Baraka
Martin and My Father	349	(1)
David Hernandez
My Ringless Fingers on the Steering Wheel Tell the Story	350	(1)
Laura Boss
The Women	351	(1)
Cyrus Cassells
I Am Singing Now	352	(1)
Luci Tapahonso
To Hell and Back, with Cake	353	(2)
Safiya Henderson-Holmes
Friendly Town #3	355	(2)
Out of Our Hands	357	(2)
Cathy Song
The Old Man's Lazy	359	(2)
Peter Blue Cloud
America	361	(1)
Robert Creeley
Naayawva Taawi	362	(2)
Wendy Rose
Story Keeper	364	(2)
The Upside Down Basket	366	(1)
Alan Chong Lau
La Migra	367	(2)
Pat Mora
What the Gypsy Said to Her Children	369	(1)
Judith Ortiz Cofer
The Floral Apron	369	(1)
Marilyn Chin
I Give You Back	370	(2)
Joy Harjo
For the Color of My Mother	372	(1)
Cherrie Moraga
Present	373	(2)
Sonia Sanchez
Norma	375	(3)
An Anthem	378	(1)
Arturo	379	(1)
Maria Mazziotti Gillan
Public School No. 18: Paterson, New Jersey	380	(2)
Growing Up Italian	382	(3)
Contributors	385