It's such an honor to have our book included in CU Boulder's "Coloradan" magazine. CU Boulder has so many wonderful and talented professors, particularly the English Department (Professors Katherine Eggert, John Graham, Charlotte Sussman, Mary Klages, Elizabeth Robertson, Eric White, & Douglas Burger) who fostered my love for literature and writing. What has always fascinated me are the ways writers can manipulate language to create, emphasize, and contradict meanings and ultimately leave a permanent textual impression on the mind and soul.
My classes at CU taught me how to utilize such poetic tools in my own writing. I wrote "Dear Mother" in 1995 for my Creative Writing class. We were given free reign to write about whatever we wanted and I was inspired by my mother and all the sacrifices she made so her children could have better lives.
What I love about writing poetry is that it can capture a fleeting moment precisely, such as an emotion, and immortalize it forever. It is like taking a picture with words.
For this particular poem, I recalled the times my mom would bring us to the local Woolworth's to buy us a toy with her hard earned tip money working as a waitress or how she would wake up four in the morning just to make us congee for our school lunch. I often felt responsible for the life that she was not able to live.
Her words of wisdom to me, usually while she was doing side work like peeling snow peas or making egg rolls was to "go to school" and "get good grades." Hope and opportunity lie in getting an education, something that was not afforded to her in this lifetime. Hence,her children became her hope and she gave up many things to make sure that we could...hope. Though I never said anything back to my mother, her words made a lasting impression on me. It is because of her that I've been able to live a my life chasing dreams...and catching them. Thank you Mom!
