Poem Response

Here is an excerpt i chose from the poem, Talking to his Reflection in a Shallow Pond by Ai.

Last night, I dreamed of America.
It was prom night.
She lay down under the spinning globes
at the makeshift bandstand
in her worn-out dress
and too-high heels,
the gardenia
pinned at her waist was brown and crumbling into itself.
what's it worth, she cried,
this land of pilgrims' pride?
As much as love, i answered. More.

Ai pictured a young asian-american girl on her prom night. she feels sad and alone, for when she looks around at everyone around her, she feels different and ugly. everyone around her has nice, elegant dresses while she is left with her mother's old dress because their family cannot afford ones like her classmates. Her high heels much too big and outdated for her generation because they are her mother's also. Like the brown little gardenia, she is crumbling. readers can see and feel her struggle with trying to fit into her new culture and environment. but when it all comes down to it, she has to realize that it is for her best, and her family's best to be living where they are, the united states; the land of opportunities.

I chose this poem because i can relate to how this young girl feels and the poem is somehow comforting. In the rest of the poem Ai writes about how much the country has to offer such as "waves of grain" and "purple mountains", and yet she still feels empty inside. Like this awful heaviness is integrated deep within her soul and she wants it to go away. I can see how this can relate to how Asians who migrated here to the United States first felt. Especially for teenagers it must be hard adapting. From the very beginning we see the struggle it is trying to be "American." trying to fit the part with appearance. and after all this work to try and look the part, she still doesnt feel right and the empty feeling leaves her questioning is it all worth it. don't you think this is how they possibly could've felt. Later into the poem, Ai writes about the day dreamers who are reaching out to her as she floats by, and how she just wants to get away from them. this can allude to the many asians who are trying to establish and get the "american dream" but the young girl wants to run away from this because it is a darkening reality trying to achieve the "dream." in this race, it leaves you with an empty feeling as you deal with racism, hardships, money issues, and identity crisis.