Notes

E1143, Video 1

When I was a kid, I spend a lot of time in the woods just traipsing around, climbing trees, swimming in streams. One thing I remember is the inscriptions that were carved into some of the tree trunks. I never did it, but it always made me wonder who the people were who did it and what inspired them? After all it's not like writing a note on a piece of paper. It seems a little more permanent and something important, too important to trust paper and pencil.

Well the immigrants in Angel Island must have had similar thoughts, because they too had important things to say and they carved them right into the wood walls of the facility for all who came after them to see. And why did they write poems and not say stories or simply carve the letters of their initials into the wood? Well, as you know, poetry expresses the poet's thoughts and feelings. And you also know that emotions on Angel Island were running pretty high given the nature of the detainees and their peculiar situations. It was not hard to imagine than why people in such circumstances as these put their most inmost thoughts in the form of poetry.

These forms, as well as a little background about what life was like in Angel Island were mentioned in our last article. The author tells us that the government is taking steps to restore the facility in which these historically significant wall carvings were discovered. We are now going to read some poems composed by these Chinese detainees and then try to get a sense of the feelings of frustration, happiness, despair or optimism that may have served as their inspiration.