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Friday, June 10, 2011

somehow, the longan is bitter on my tongue

By Elizabeth Yu
Age 13, Grade 8

Gold Medal

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when I was five years old
my mother dipped my feet
in a warm bath of blood and herbs
I remember her tears like rain
splashing about my feet
like a timid absolution
“this is mother love,” she whispered
her hands shaking as she
gently curled my toes under my feet
and cracked my arch in half
my scream shattered the peace
of the two white doves
nesting in the peach tree
outside the rice paper windows
they flew away
never to be seen again

41 comments:

  1. I'm guessing this poem is about forcing girls to have small feet in China? Years ago, when I read about how it affected the little girls, I couldn't stop thinking about it and it was hard to sleep. My heart was crushed to think of it.

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  2. This is well done - invokes a powerful image in my head

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  3. Poignant and beautiful...
    Loved it Elizabeth!

    aJ

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  4. Beautiful poem and profound coming from a 13 year old :)

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  5. This is an extremely profound, hard hitting and powerful poem.
    Thank you EEEEEEEESHIE for sharing, and I hope you have a lovely weekend.
    :)

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  6. hard to imagine an eight grader writing something so deep :O very nice!

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  7. I shuddered reading it! Awesome poem.

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  8. I got chills reading that.
    Very nice work.

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  9. Oh my, these prodigious 13-year-olds just keep getting better and better... and better. :D

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  10. Hmmm, makes you think

    Lola x
    http://lola-x.blogspot.com

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  11. Wow. A 13-year-old kid wrote ts? Awesome!!

    Shesh! That really sounds painful.

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  12. This is an amazing work of pros.

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  13. I think I may well up.

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  14. All I can say is, WOW. That this poem was written by an 8th grader is absolutely amazing!

    The word choice, the imagery, the shock of realizing what is happening to this child...it's the work of a master poet. Would love to see some of her other work!

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  15. Whoa...just...whoa.

    Thanks for coming by the joint last week. I'm just getting around to responding, but wanted to pop over and drop a hi.

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  16. It was either going to be her or someone else... I guess that's a mother's love, they will hurt you so that others do not.

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  17. Great poem but yeah i can feel the pain.

    thanks for dropping by on my page. I am your new follower. Hope you will follow my page too :)

    Have a nice day!

    iamjool.blogspot.com

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  18. *BEEEP*

    Nice Poem. >.> I wish I could write something like that.

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  19. This is so beautifully written, and so sad, and so profound.
    WOW.
    she deserved that gold medal.

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  20. right I did not get it :( I am not that clever
    cracked your feet did it hurt or what ...

    Bikram's

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  21. i love this.

    And I still can't believe she's 13!

    *DONS MY CONE OF SHAME*

    About your question on my blog, I'm definitely leaving - finishing my junior and senior year of high school in Singapore. (:

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  22. Wow...that's frightening.

    In response to your comment on my blog, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THAT'S VERY NICE OF YOU.

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  23. Eeeek. This is a beautiful poem, but also very painful to read. Very vivid.

    (On a side note, LOV ETHE NAME OF YOUR BLOG.)

    QUIRKYEXPLOSION.blogspot.com

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  24. Gave me a serious case of goosebumps.

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  25. Woahhh. Where do you find these?

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  26. very sad poem, but also beautiful.
    please visit my blog after the beep. *beeeeeep*
    i follow you. jmankowski.blogspot.com

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  27. Oh my gosh. Social studies of the 6th grade, it's all coming back *shudders* it was so painful to read about!! The horror!!

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  28. Wow, this is amazing.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

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  29. Where are youuuu??

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