Yellow Art

Kevin Matsui
Wk 11
11-22-15

With all the metaphors and unknown references, reading Phuong T. Vuong’s poem, “Yellow Art,” the first time can be very confusing. But after reading it through a couple times the jibberish seems to make a little more sense. Saying things like “let there be no vision poems written until we can maintain clear sight” and “do that thing called justice” makes this poem seem like it is saying that there aren’t any poems accurately portraying Asian Americans for who they really are and until there is one that speaks the truth, forget the other ones. The powerful language emphasizes the frustration behind the voice thirsting for the truth. Asians are more than nun chucks, kung-fu and engineers sucking up to white elites in Silicon Valley.  Analyzing the poem, I could see the deeper meaning behind the words. I could feel the stress of the mom raising 7 children with a sewing machine, the smell the nail polish fumes, hear the screams of all Asians demanding justice. More than words on a paper, we are a people with a history and a voice.

Q.) How can a poem change the worldview of a race?