She Said No

New on Youtube: a student at Mount Holyoke College, Son-Ca Lam, performs my poem about Christopher McCarthy, US soldier who killed a South Korean waitress in 2000.

Watch it here. The poem begins at 6:00 min. The first part of the video is a segment from Missed Sigh Gone, a parody by Giles Li of the hit Broadway musical.

The performance was part of a larger show for Asian American Interpretive Realities.

It's fascinating for me to hear and see the piece channeled through someone else's voice and body. To watch it as a spectator. Son-Ca does a beautiful job, packs it with intensity, brings out tones and textures that will inform my future performances of it. I haven't done this piece for a very long time, and I was surprised to feel myself respond to the story, the images, as if they were new to me. And also relieved - it means the poem passes the test of good writing.