Asian-American Poetry

“Otherness” by Diana Chang

“Are you Chinese?

“Are you American?”

I am fascinated

But other

Anywhere

I

Must

Be

Jewish

Leading to an eye-opener:

Real Chinese in China

Not feeling other,

Not international

Not cosmopolitan

Are gentiles, no less

No wonder

I felt the way I did

In the crowd

My Israel

Not there

Not here

I chose this poem because it really gets at what immigrants to America feel like.  They are not sure who they are, and search for their identity.  They are not like everyone else, and they are not sure where they can call home and claim their true identity.