birds rewrite

Light. The source of life, it provides energy and warmth. It alludes to knowledge and

memory. Light associates with God in the heavens looking down upon us. All of these three

concepts connect to one another, in ways made clear by Li-Young Lee in his book of poems, The

City in Which I Love You. The image of light is especially recurrent in Lee’s poems, “Furious

Versions,” “My Father in Heaven Reading Out Loud,” and “The Interrogation.” In all three

pieces, the poet uses the recurring image of light to focus on the importance of memory, his

father, immigration, knowledge, religion, and his overall identity. Through symbolic and open

poetry, Lee unapologetically recreates and interprets where he comes from, under a different

light of memory and knowledge. In a way, now that he has been through his experiences, his

poetry has allowed him to look back, to reflect, and to understand the struggles and victories of

not only his family but also himself.

“My Father, in Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud,” is a poem about Lee’s image of his father.

Though it may not include a direct reference or use of the word “light,” the idea of heaven, or

God, relates and connects to the image of light. In this poem, the speaker’s view of his father

slowly alters within each stanza. First, his father is seen as godly, a man with great power and

strength, yet also kind and tender. According to Lee’s background, he personally viewed his

father as a god. He struggled to think there was a source, an energy, more godly than his own

father. And, as they were a family of refugees, his father lead them to freedom and safety. It was

only true that Lee would have nothing but respect for his father, as well as the thought that he

could never amount to what his father had done in life. But, as shown in the poem, the speaker

eventually transitions into understanding his father’s true identity, just as Lee does later on in his

life. Ultimately, after his father dies, Lee inherits the books his father had read and annotated and

finds question marks. Lee expresses that he never thought of his father as a questioning man, but

a man that knew everything, the past, the future, the present, the importance and meaning of

science, the source of light, and so on. Similarly, in the poem, the speaker sees his father as more

a follower of God rather than God himself. The poem alludes to the Book of Exodus, and how

the father is similar to the Israelites. Despite the father's strength and intelligence, he was still an

outcast, a prisoner, and had to flee. He kept a brave face, but ultimately only relied on the

guidance of God to survive. The image of light is related to this poem, as it is a moment of

discovery for the speaker. The poem flows almost as if it is a story, and the speaker is

enlightened each moment he moves from one line to the next, continuously putting pieces

together to understand and comprehend the complexity that is his father.

Both “Furious Versions” and “The Interrogation” include references to light in terms of

memory. Lee has established the importance of memory in his life, yet admittedly acknowledges

that it more often fails him than serves him a purpose. Again, it relates back to his upbringing

and moments with his father, where memory was emphasized as the most important quality and

skill. To remember a verse, a poem, word for word was Lee’s father’s talent. Moreover,

specifically through these two poems, the tone is almost resentful of memory, instead of wishing

to remember, he wishes to forget. “Furious Versions” includes aggressive images of fire,

It was one year of fire

out of the world’s diary of fires,

fresh-laced, mid-century fire,

Teeth and hair infested,

Napalm dressed and skull-hung fire,

An imminent fire, an elected

Fire coming to rob me

Of my own death, my damp bed

In the noise earth,

My rocking toward a hymn-like night. (146-157)