These are poems students in class 801
composed about their family’s immigration to the United States of America
Fall 2002
Jack L
Hope
of America
I have traveled across the harsh ocean… the ocean that
separates my past from my future… in
search for a better life.
I have gone through anger and regret, hoping that America
will become the soil that my roots will be able to dig through… a place where
my roots will absorb a much improved environment.
But instead of a better surrounding, I have suffered through
hardship and discrimination in hope of a better future.
I learned of how the majority of the youth in this land
looked down at the position of the Chinese, hoping that my daughters and son
will not live the same way as they did.
I have been robbed by the evil that lives on this soil,
hoping it will not have occurred with my loved ones… hoping such misfortune
wouldn’t occur once more.
I have been cheated through greed of money, hoping I could
learn from my experiences.
I came to America, in hope of a success in my life, hoping
it would be a place I could appreciate… a great improvement compared to my old
soil.
The Statue of Liberty wasn’t meant for me… it wasn’t even
meant for my color!
It was only meant for “Americans.”
Americans that were only white, and the ones that came from
around the Mid-east… not China.
She didn’t give me the hopes that I once wished for.
But the only hopes that I could still possibly continue to
hope for left are my children… my creation of the next generation.
They will be the ones that would fulfill my dreams, my
hopes for America, and turn my fantasies to reality.
They are my future… I hope.
Vernon L
They came to America and get a job.
Like all the other people.
They work in Factories and homes.
Those came and get a job like the generation before them.
They are happy.
They can make a living.
They can live in America.
There are white trying to take the jobs
There are riots and Chinese beating up the Chinese people.
The Chinese still are doing the work.
They can support the family.
They can support themselves.
They can be like other people.
They can send money back to China.
Then they can help get other family members to come.
And they will be rich.
Mary J
What
is immigration?
Discrimination
Is
in the heart of immigration
Where
you search and search
But
never get near the hopes and dreams
Of
freedom and success
Where
the opportunities is what you don’t have
Where
deportation
Underestimates
the power of immigration
Through
the loss of precious years
From
angel island imprisonment
Life
has become full of wonders and mischievous thoughts
Where
the hopes to gain freedom is unbelievable
Where
the millions of innocent freedom have been taken for granted
While
others suffer from the laws like the Immigration Act, Page Law, Scott Act, and
the Chinese Exclusion Act
Whites
spread joyfully
Banning
the Chinese immigration from returning after going to China
Was
just another excuse to limit the population of the Chinese?
When
the Chinese immigrants need to be free
The
whites wouldn’t let them
When
the Chinese immigrants needed some privacy
The
whites wouldn’t let them
When
the Chinese immigrants needed to work
The
whites wouldn’t let them
Fighting
for jobs and freedom
Is
that what America is all about?
When
will the whites and the Chinese ever get alone?
Not
blaming each other for their loss
Not
blaming each other for their jobs
When
will they just get along?
With
all that hatred yawing to break free
Towards
the immigration of the Chinese
0where
all that hatred yawning to break free
Towards
the immigration of the Chinese
Where
the whites wants everything to stay the same
Not
wanting anyone to disturb them
In
what they call “a home”
Where
there are limits to everything Chinese immigrants do
From
being able to go to school
To
the types of laws passed only towards the Chinese Immigrants
Where
they suffered from it the most
Through
all the struggles and hardships
One
family has come out and fought through the discrimination
Now
being able to freely walk around, with their heads up high
Discrimination
finally ended between them but
Will
discrimination prevent us from living peacefully with each other?
Carmen W
A Faithful Journey
It was an ordinary day,
Traveling across town to town
Which gathered and swept us
way,
Eyes were looking down and up
upon us
And right at us.
Home was where people
understood who we are
How we communicate
How we enjoy our lives.
Concerns are overwhelming
The unexpected becomes
reality,
Reality becomes the truth
The truth is what your life is
Hopefully, it was one faithful
journey.
Strange faces,
Hatred expressed on faces,
Food was horrible,
Acts/laws that made no sense
Others repeating "Why the
Chinese?"
Hopefully,
It was one faithful journey
Zhen Long L
Not Enough Food in China
Where Chinese once lived, small apartments
With no food at Guangzhou, jobs are taken back by whites
Low payments to all Chinese, Chinese are discriminated by America,
By making acts against them, not allowing women to enter America
Saying they’ll all be prostitutes, and men were not allowed to re-enter
America
If went back to visit China, unless have properties worth over $1000,
Or family currently living in America. Americans were rude.
Till this day on, Chinese seeking for a better life,
Stress and pain is all around, America is the place to be.
Is gold mountain really true? Let’s be a part of the gold rush,
Return to China, as rich men, hopefully America is the right place to be…
Xiao Yan L
Challenging the World or Me?
Life was difficult
Moving from home to a New
World
Traveling for two hours…
Crossing through the horizon…
The bright blue sky
The first step on America…
On JFK airport.
Not familiar with the faces,
The places,
And the language…
No more Chinese immigration
with queues
Never for him!
Why were they so different?
Their life style?
Their language?
Them?
Not knowing much about
American’s Culture
But that didn’t push him down
He faced reality and tried to
learn American’s…
Life Style
All he cared about was his job
Working as a restaurant worker
is hard already
Forget about learning the
language
He knows that his kids would
take care the language
Expecting for money…
Better education for his dear
children
Coming with hopes…
He expected their lives to
change…better
Working for hours
And not even having time for
his dear children
It’s time now…
His dear children are growing
up
YES! He made the right choice!
His dreams came true
For money, and for his family!
Jennifer H
What my parents deserve from Me
They had good jobs
And I had good grades.
What a great family!
Back in my homeland
America was a dream though,
A dream of all parents for their children
My parents gave me a chance
And an opportunity to succeed
Such a young and graceful me
Came to America
But all I sudden I could talk, listen, and see.
All the victory became history.
That wasn’t what we expected
We expected to adapt really quick
And archive our dreams
Things turned out to be the opposite
Little house, hard to learn and low-pay jobs
My parent suffered through all this just for me
For me to have a better future than them
Nothing knowing anything made me sick
I saw failure in me
And couldn’t believe what’s in front of me
They felt the same way as I did
Sadness and disappointments in our hearts
They did so much for me
And they don’t deserve all these sadness
I have to find a way to pay them back
I have to let them see me succeeding in this wild land
I am scared to fail
I am scared that it would upset them
I have to succeed
I worked hard to catch up and let me feel proud
Prizes came to their hand rewarded by me
Victory is what they deserve after all this hard work
They did all that for me
And this is what they get in return from me
For it was Chinatown
by Yuan Y
Once upon a time 12 years ago in Shanghai
China,
the life of an average family was frustrating.
Jobs were not available to pay a living,
and restrictions were placed on wanted jobs,
excluding the chance of average Chinese like the ones in my family.
Newspapers flew across the road,
with headlines that read,
"President (name) (verb) (time) in America!"
Democracy, equality, opportunities, and all that dreamlike promises,
told me to have no fear, since America's here!
We needed approval if we met requirements
to this popular country--
"You've got enough money to survive in the US?
You've got a reasonable reason?
You've never committed a crime, eh?"
Yes or no?
"Yes, we've got enough,
our reason was for a better life,
yes, we've never committed any crime!
Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Approval on our second try!
Within two weeks of preparing and
arranging,
we went to the airport and set to America!
"Excited to forward to this new world!"
my mother would hail,
to this new world.
Landing at the airport in NYC, I saw my
father waving towards us. He had came earlier, fairly successful. Anyhow, is
this where I belong?
The family lived in the Island of Staten,
seeing no signs of asians, our roots.
Wasn't America the diverse country?
White,
I only see waves of whites.
Within little time,
conflict stirred within the family.
emotional and physical violence toward my mother and I.
Help was nowhere to be found,
for we understood no English, nothing.
We've suffered living with a violent man,
but were completely speechless in this free speaking country.
We understood no English,
We couldn't talk.
Nobody would listen, anyway.
Eventually, we shifted to the neighborhood
of China, Chinatown,
because of a precious word of mouth!
communication improved,
education did,
better yet, the economy!
There were now faces who greeted us
cheerfully,
every morning and night.
With the language we speak,
and don't feel awkward to respond to.
For it was Chinatown.
When I went to school at P.S.2,
I was excited to return to my Asian home!
Teachers were patient in this bound community,
so patient they could even stand such a child like me,
for it was Chinatown.
The traditions here, same as China's,
the same loyal dancing lion,
the same ol' red envelop exchanging,
but just no more of those cracking firecrackers,
still, I don't dare to ask for more.
My mother's job was steady,
"Nothing here is different than China, except for better qualities of
life,"
My mother had exclaimed.
In America, we actually have,
a color television,
an apartment,
couches,
a Bunkbed,
Desks,
VCRs
tables,
a small kitchen,
even a computer!
For it was Chinatown.
But as time passed,
passed until today,
we've suddenly discovered that being in a country and city like this,
can be frightening,
for it was Chinatown.
Attention attracted tragic,
tragic that struck the tall proud building.
Yeah, the "money building."
I knew perfectly,
the decent life of mine would change.
Tragic caused the fall of emotion and
economy.
Yeah, the "money building" had collapsed.
The fall of emotion and economy led many people,
like me, to rethink about their immigration.
"Hmm,"
I now ponder to myself.
Maybe my decent immigration experience,
would have to end right now,
after the collapsing of the "money building."
Raisa H
America
You come across many opportunities
such as jobs
You induldge on everything
America has to offer
such as food
from pretzels to hot dogs
Every vote makes a difference
Your color background is the
least to worry
or
Your religion and culture
Flying freely in the sky
I wait for the day I immigrate
to America
Boom,
Boom, thump, thump…
Heart
skipped a beat as we board the plane,
Wishing
the voyage was worth the excitement…
Coming
to America “Woo Hoo!”
As
everything was new to us,
Through
that trip,
We
experienced new food…
New
races of people, all with different face color, different cultures, new parts
in our lives was about to began
A
place we dreamed to be in,
As
we enter LFK airport,
We
were scared we didn’t forgotten to bring what was needed of us,
Walking
out of the airport in relief,
It
ended up being a disappointment…
Where’s
all the high tech building?
Where
are all the easy to make money?
Why
is all the streets so crowded with people?
We
should guess again! Because:
Work
was hard to find,
Rent
was a problem,
When
can we start and make a living?
Through
all that pain that we endured…
All
that hard working for 12 hours a day,
Finding
a way to pay all those debts,
Looking
out for ourselves, and not relying on others,
We
finally earn a good position as a family of Chinese,
In
America.
Andy H
My Triumph and Pain
I hope for a better life,
Thought of the words
independence and liberty,
Those words stuck,
Ever since I was in my age of
youth,
I heard stories and great
adventure of the Golden Mountain from my elders,
So called as America,
Stories of gold and success,
My life was poor in China,
I need to be man,
Hoping to be rich and make
more money,
Explore the great lands and
find more great things to bring back to China,
But what I thought was all an
imagination
I felt like a poor person,
Who skin is considered as
color,
How our race was stereotype
and discriminated by others,
But I didn’t mind,
I didn’t care,
Whether I am skillful or not,
All I know is the I work hard
to earn today’s life,
David W
Holding on to their Future
They came for the future
Seeking for treasure and gold
They search for money
The new beginning of a new generation,
Adapting to the village,
The only way to make up a familiar surrounding
A place with tradition
With custom
Home villages forming
Watching roots grow slowly
Branches and leaves expanding
Keeping them in as ours
Squeezing through crowds
From sidewalk to sidewalk
All along the way were generous doses of magic
Spreading to one another,
Moving along the strength of the people
The strength to the future
Building slowly
As time pass it expands
And forming the future of the new
generation,
Showing pride and staying strong
they have done well
Returning home with money and happiness,
as they've wished.
Alvin C
Chinatown was a small
community
It was filled with all kinds
of ethnic groups
Chinatown was a mysterious
place
The white and black ethnic
groups were always looking
The mighty Chinatown was a
place where they kept Chinese tradition alive
It was a place of peace, where
Chinese weren’t afraid of starving
Some reason the ethnic groups
were some what attracted by us
It was great where you could
see faces as same as yours
Everyone knows each other, no
one is afraid
It is a place of mysteries
The mighty Chinatown, place of
protection
The mighty Chinatown, a place
of happiness
The mighty Chinatown stands
tall and high
The mighty Chinatown stands
for a place of tradition
Winnie Y
We’ve made it!
(Family Immigration)
The fear was great during the
travel of the ship,
The fear of death and the fear
of the ocean.
From it’s changing moods and
the darkness of the diseases.
Coming to America was a dream
but a not knowing how it would be like was a nightmare.
Scary as it is we made it.
We’ve survived the voyage on
the ship,
We’ve survived the Elise
Island we’ve gotten a job.
We’ve gotten a roof we’ve got
all we need to survive here.
We’ve settled in and started a
new life.
A life in America, a life in
heaven.
Herman C
The easy way to America
Coming to America for the freedom.
For the public school.
For the jobs.
For the better life.
For the future.
It is not very hard to go to America.
Don't need to worry much.
You will get use to it.
Money is needed all the time, and you can't just get it right away.
It is easy to go to America, if you have friends or family members in
America.
Just do some traveling and fill out forms is that easy or what
Find a job that is enough for a living.
Nothing require no work.
You got to work for it.
Nothing is free.
It doesn’t have to be hard, just enough for a living is good enough.
Later find some harder jobs when you got more skill and when you know
more about America.
Everything takes times, don't rush.
Make the right choice for yourself.
Just settle down first.
Jason L
When people hear rumors of better life,
They want to try to get it.
They will do anything.
When the time has come,
They hurry and board a plane,
To fly to the place far far away.
They want to earn more money,
And hope to find it in a different place.
They want different varieties of jobs,
And much more opportunities.
This place has freedom,
You can do whatever you want.
To the Chinese this place is known as Mei Guo,
This place is the United States of America.
Our
homeland was a poverty place.
An
image of hunger, and starvation was a picture of our homeland.
We
begged for hunger, we plead for money to support our families.
Day
by day past in our eyes, and a rumor was spread.