Poetry & Migration #1: Bao Phi
As part of “Because We Come From Everything: Poetry & Migration,” the first formalized programming of the Poetry Coalition, Milkweed Editions, Coffee House Press, Graywolf Press, and Birds, LLC have partnered to curate a selection of poems on the theme of migration. A new poem will be distributed each Thursday in March and April, online and in Pocket Poem size at several Minneapolis and St. Paul independent bookstores.
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EGO-TRIPPING AS SELF-DEFENSE MECHANISM FOR REFUGEE KIDS WHO GOT THEIR NAMES CLOWNED ON
My given name, Thiên-bảo, translates to
treasure from heaven.
An immediate reason for my being indecipherable
the moment it stung
unfamiliar tongue
so soon after “hello.”
I would finally like to thank my parents for what I once thought of
as an unpronounceable curse
that I’d have loved to bleach—
because everyone who has ever addressed me from bullies to crushes to haters
has had no choice
but to call me
valuable.
Join the conversation and share your favorite poems about migration in the comments below and on social media by using #WeComeFromEverything.
“Ego-Tripping as Self-Defense Mechanism for Refugee Kids Who Got Their Names Clowned On” from Thousand Star Hotel. Copyright © 2017 by Bao Phi. Reprinted with the permission of Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. coffeehousepress.org.
Bao Phi
Bao Phi has been a performance poet since 1991 and has performed as a featured artist all over the United States. He is the author of Sông I Sing (Coffee House Press, 2011) and Thousand Star Hotel (Coffee House Press, 2017). His first children’s book, to be illustrated by Thi Bui, will be published by Capstone Press in the fall of 2017. He is currently Program Director at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.