pt. Four pt. One Postlude. Prelude -- Citizenship -- Aubade -- Birthdays -- Origin story -- Ode to a previous life -- At the Intersection of the Land & the Sea -- The Creation of a Language -- Leaving Milwaukee -- Coming Home -- Out -- pt. Two Discovery -- Spoken Language -- I forget -- The Universe, a Woman -- Akbar & Birbal Count Crows -- My Grandmother's Jewelry -- (Mother Earth) Giving Birth to Trees -- The World Lies Between Her Two Eyes -- Trusting the Birds -- Girl Growing Up in the South Enters the Midwest -- Dictionary: Tanpura -- Giving a Mongoose a Plastic Bottle -- Searching for Comfort -- Ode to Mehendi -- Interlude -- pt. Three Becoming -- How To Become A Beautiful Second-Language Poet -- To Milwaukee -- Self-Portrait With Mother's Hands In My Heart -- Dissimilate -- Portrait of my Tongue as a Battleground -- Shopping for a Necklace -- Vegetables -- House of Spices -- Ode to Debate / Sometimes, After Junior Year -- I Take Advice From Birbal -- Orphan Tongues -- The Land -- Ode to Temple Crowds -- To My Father -- pt. Four Rebellion -- Brewing -- Ghazal for all the World -- Laxmi Plaza -- Revolution in my Mind -- Birds of a Country -- Border Violence -- Hand in Mouth -- How They Say -- Independence -- Friday Night (ii) -- Tillana -- [Mispronunciations] -- How to Avoid Falling in Love with my own Writing -- A Lesson on Colonization & Genocide -- Akbar & Birbal Eat Together -- Postlude.
Summary:
"Hands for Language is a groundbreaking poetry collection that expands the dialogue around literary representation. At its core, it is a bildungsroman in verse encompassing postcolonial and diasporic themes. This volume is intended to take readers on a journey through the eyes of a young girl of colour living in America. She explores themes of transnationalism, migration, language, family, and culture. Organized into four sections, Hands for Language mirrors her path to self-discovery and understanding. The collection is a commentary on the interaction between historical and modern conceptions of ethnicity, gender, and cultural identity. What is more remarkable is that these important themes of our times have been explored by a precocious and sensitive 15-year-old."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.