Forgotten

Dedicated to Chinese immigrants detained at Angel Island
(in San Francisco Bay) from 1910-1940

I am the daughter of a seasick immigrant,
               left behind the cages,
continuously reaching out for freedom,
                 for happiness.

Locked up in little metal cabins,
  with hundreds of other women and children,
unwilling to sleep on the hard cheap mattresses,
        unwilling to forget my family in China,
    I would carve my emotions into a poem
        onto the wood above my head.

          Left with nothing by hope,
stuck with nothing but information,
  information of some other person's history—
from the numbers of windows in her house,
  to the history of her famous great-grand aunt.
I've been working so hard to make a difference in my life,
            and in order to start new again,
  I forced myself to become a paper daughter.

I remember when I saw those gray pigeons living freely
            outside those barbed wires.
  Often did I wish I could fly away from this horrible place.
  As every night passed by, people comforted each other
        by telling lies.
  How we would be able to get out of this place soon,
            they thought I wouldn't know
            that I was still young and dim
              But I was the smart one
                who was being realistic.
So determined to meet up
with my loved ones once again.
       All forgotten in America.
        But I want to be remembered,
      To run wild again with unbound feet.

---

Jennifer Liang, age 14
2008 Finalist
San Francisco, California
Lowell High School
Teacher: Susan Terence (California Poets in the Schools)