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From Sam Hamill: This is the poetry of necessity, drawn from a searing yet gentle vision of human tragedy and nobility. Anita Feng's poems articulate quiet courage, humility, subtlety and authentic grace in a seamless book, the voice calm and wise as the proverbial ch'an master who, nose-to-nose with the tiger, does not blink. I shall cherish her gift for many years.
The poems begin with his young mother giving birth to a 'colorless folded thing.' Soon the Great Leap Forward leaves 'food/ and drink behind.' . . . In third grade, Xiao Ge wants to be a hero like Dong Chun Rei, who died in the guerrilla effort against Chiang Kai-shek. After sixth grade he educates himself 'on the sly' from black-market textbooks while working in a factory. Then comes 'reeducation' in freezing Manchuria, flight to America, and, much later, a visit to Beijing, where passengers on a bus are 'transfixed as one/ on my wife's Jewish nose' and the 'magic trick' of his half-Chinese child with the curly hair. This is a convincing and artistic attempt to capture in poem-vignettes the postliberation experience from the Chinese point of view. General readers.
Readers are introduced in Internal Strategies to a
poetry notable not only for its imaginative subtlety and reach, but also
for its music. Feng's lines achieve unfailing poise and taut lyric beauty.
. . . There is not a weak line in this book. . . . The poems in this
volume combine to offer an intricate story about seeing and claiming for
our own the uncertain yet exalting possibilities of life which are present
in every moment. Anita Feng's precisely focused visionary poetry gives
uncommon pleasure, repays serious thought, and merits a large audience.
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