(Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash. Dandelion Seeds) In the last few years, I have, unconsciously at first and more deliberately later, begun processing events, memories, and emotions through poetry. I once kept a journal but stopped after I had children—there simply wasn’t enough time. Now I have discovered that poetry allows me to bypass…
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The Trials of Spring
Pamela Pan This short story was first published in Voices of the Valley: Through the Window by CWC Tri-Valley, 2020 Spring of 1996 arrives. I’m not ready. I leave the classroom at the University of the Pacific and enter the green lawn. The sun warms my face, the breeze ruffles my hair, but I feel…
To Learn or Not to Learn a Heritage Language: A Case in Point
A relative and his family came to visit, with their toddler. Soft cheeks, red lips, chubby hands, cute, cuddly. The very picture of a darling kid whom everyone wants to hold and love. But this little child caused a storm in my house that day, a storm that rages on, to this day, and will…
Why Is Hamilton So Popular? From a Writing Perspective
Watching Hamilton: An American Musical is a whole-body immersion experience. Your eyes are riveted on the stage, ears catch melodies exhilarating or sad, muscles involuntarily follow every movement, and heart swells with the emotions of the scenes. Prior to Hamilton, rap was not my type of music. I could listen but would not seek it…
The Outside World is Splendid and Hopeless
What is special about friends we made when we were young? Things happen to threaten our bonds. Distance drives us apart. Time puts wrinkles on our faces and hearts. And yet, the closeness we feel, the comfort we derive, the love we bestow—they remain constant. Lin was one of those special friends I made…
Shanghai: The Good, the Bad, and Why I Like It
It is a place for the rich and the poor, the adventurous and the timid, the entrepreneurial and the intellectual, the accomplished and the aspiring. It is Shanghai. I went there for college in 1985 and left the city in 1993 to come to the U.S. The city left an indelible mark on my being….