Poetry highlights in honor of National Poetry Month!
Poet of the Day: Li-Young Lee
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1957 to parents who were exiled from their home in China, Li-Young Lee witnessed violence and alienation at a young age. In 1959, anti-Chinese uprising forced his family to flee for safety once again. This journey led them through years of displacement in Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan. Finally, in 1964, they arrived as refugees in the United States and settled in rural Pennsylvania. Lee started seriously writing and studying poetry while attending the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied with Gerald Stern. His first book, Rose , published in 1986, won the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Poetry Award from New York University. Since then, he has won numerous accolades and published five books of poetry and a memoir. Lee’s most recent collection of poems is  The Undressing  (2018).
This poet belongs in our classrooms because . . .
Li-Young Lee's journey to the United States and into American culture is relatable for so many of the students in our classrooms. His struggles to understand where his father came from and the tragedies he dealt with are an opportunity for reflection of our own histories and evolutions. The rich metaphor and vivid word choice he uses to tell his stories bring each moment to life for any reader. 
A Poem by Li-Young Lee

In the steamer is the trout  
seasoned with slivers of ginger,
two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil.  
We shall eat it with rice for lunch,  
brothers, sister, my mother who will  
taste the sweetest meat of the head,  
holding it between her fingers  
deftly, the way my father did  
weeks ago. Then he lay down  
to sleep like a snow-covered road  
winding through pines older than him,  
without any travelers, and lonely for no one.
More Poems by Li-Young Lee
Classroom Connections

  • Read to self: Have students read the poem silently and underline any words that stand out.
  • Read aloud: Ask a volunteer to read the poem aloud and have students underline any words that stand out a second time.
  • Watch/listen to the recorded reading by Li-Young Lee.
  • Pair and share: Have students pair up and discuss the words they underlined and what meaning or feeling those words bring to life.
  • Class discussion: Compare the concrete descriptions of food at the beginning of the poem with the figurative language used in the second half of the poem. Share words that students underlined and discuss whether they are concrete or abstract.
  • Five- to 10-minute free write: what are some of your favorite family meals, what foods does your family always eat together, what foods remind you of your family/culture? Describe these foods for your classmates using concrete language.

Further Activity
  1. Pair the two poems "Eating Together" and "Early in the Morning."
  2. Compare the structure of the two poems and the use of concrete and figurative language used to tell the story of the relationship between the family members. Why does Lee begin each poem with descriptions of food? How does the preparation and eating of food show the role that each family member plays?
  3. Underline the similes in each poem and have groups of students discuss what is being compared and how the two things being compared are similar. 

Jessica Rosen has studied writing for most of her life, earning both a BA and MFA in creative writing. She has taught composition, literature, and creative writing at a community college on the Oregon coast and in her hometown of Chicago. Currently she lives in Southern Minnesota where she runs the tutoring center at a small community college.