Immigrant Poetry / Inspired by Angel Island
A theme at the center of much non-western immigration literature is how to forge a cultural identity that honors both the old country and the new, which is especially difficult when neither seems very accepting. Immigrant families have a unique perspective that allows their voice to stand apart from other poets. Their poems aren’t only about changing nations, but about changing cultures, even when those cultures are at a very local, community level.
Image shows Calvin (left) with his mother and younger brother.
Day Dreamer / Calvin Ong (鄧超俊)
Calvin Ong came over from China in 1937 alone at the age of ten. He was detained for a few months at the Angel Island Immigration Station before being deported back to China. He returned to the United States in 1949. He was detained for another few months at the Sansome Street building before being formally admitted into the country in 1951.
Calvin celebrated his 93rd birthday in June 2020. His full story is available on Immigrant Voices.
“One time my grandson asked me, ‘What is your best moment in life and your saddest moment in life?’ I already wrote the sad one, and I have it right here.” - Calvin Ong
A Remembrance of Angel Island /
Susie Oy Lum Fong (林孟葵)
Susie Oy Lum Fong left her home in Antang Village, Guangdong, China, in 1935 to marry Fong Mon Dai. She was detained at Angel Island for three months. Fifty years later, at the age of 75, she wrote this poem for her children to commemorate her stay there.
Susie Oy Lum Fong’s poem was translated by Chris Chan and submitted by her daughter Victoria Fong.
Excerpt from Keep Dreaming, a song from Illegal: A New Musical / Skyler Chin
Skyler Chin is a descendent of Angel Island detainees, born in San Francisco and raised in New York. As a senior at Yale University, Skyler wrote and performed in Illegal, an original rap-rock musical about immigrant justice, set in 1923. Illegal is inspired by the experiences of Skyler's grandparents and others who came to the US during the Chinese Exclusion Act and draws some lyrics from poetry carved by detainees at the Immigration Station.
Keep dreaming and telling your story
Keep believing till it’s finally true, and we’ll
Break even, it’s all guts and no glory
Plant the seeds, someday the garden will bloomRemember how you’d
roam around your war torn home town, repeating that
you’d go to Gold Mountain, and promised to bring a piece back,
no matter how they’d beat back Chinese with these acts?
’cause when you went to sea that day you couldn’t see thatDays of wind and waves would place you in a cage for Asians —
could angels really make a racist prison in the bay?
I saw our spirits floating out the slats of the cage,
Humiliated, bodies dropping every day but…Remember how you scraped together all you had,
how you planned a clever farewell to your family
but choked up first, your tears flowing together
the last time you saw them
And you promised them the world…
Don’t you forget thatLook out through these rigid steel bars, it’s Oakland
Across those frigid green waters we soak in the sun
the moment it comes, our moment to run,
the morning will come, we’ve only begun to shineDo not forget this day when you land ashore
Keep dreaming and telling your story
Keep believing till it’s finally true and we’ll
Break even, it’s all guts and no glory
Plant the seeds, someday the garden will bloomPlant the seeds, someday the garden will bloom
Click the image above to listen to Keep Dreaming from Illegal: A New Musical
