A to Z Challenge: Is it Over?

I can't believe I was able to pull it off. As many of you may know, I decided to combine the A to Z challenge with NaPoWriMo (which required me to write a poem a day ~ even on Sunday).

Although I love writing poetry, I must admit it was a challenge to write a poem with the letter of the day in mind.....I couldn't just write anything.....it had to speak to me in some way....I had to feel it and then and only then would the words flow. Seriously, it wasn't easy thinking up a poem about something starting with C, W, Q and Z.....just to name a few.

This whole month of April, I could be found writing on the plane, in the car, in bed, on a couch in the lobby of a hotel....anywhere I could find so that I could post my poem every day.

I was often lost in thought during the day and then burning the midnight oil at night to get the words just perfect.....most nights I stayed up until 2 or 3 am! I even wrote until 4 am once.....ugh!

I didn't have much luck trying to stay ahead of the game by writing my poems ahead of time, because I was constantly playing hide and seek with my muse. I was able to get some poems done ahead of one of my trips where I wasn't going to have access to a computer, only to find out 15 minutes before I left that I had accidentally erased one of the poems! WHAT!!!!

Talk about panicking.....I lost my X post. I tried to re-write it from memory, because I didn't write it in my notebook. Fortunately, I remembered most of the words by the time I got through security and I called my daughter and had her type into my blog. It wasn't exactly how I originally wrote it, but it was close enough and the plane was taking off with or without me. Talk about stressing out.....ha!

But, I must say that I loved this challenge. I combined the two challenges and through this process, I came across many amazing blogs (there is no way to list all of them here) but I would like to highlight a few of my favorite A to Z Challengers:  Zainab of Metamorphosis, Sania of Embracing Dawn, Nick of Scattergun Scribblings, Sarah from  Simply Sarah, Dana of The Daily Dose, Julia from Writing Jewels, Sandy from Oozing Out My Ears, AJ of Words from Sonobe and Kate from Another Clean Slate.

I learned a lot about myself.....and so did my kids. By the second week, my kids were trying to help me come up with subjects for my poems that fit my so called "requirements" as they saw it.....my son said....what starts with R that is depressing and sad. ha!

Anyhow, it's been such a wonderful experience and I look forward to next year....I must say I'm a bit lost since it's been over. Kind of sad.

Thank you Arlee and everyone else who helped get this challenge rolling. I can't wait for next year.

I also want to thank all my readers for taking the time to read and comment....I hope to continue this amazing blogging journey with you all.

Are there any other writing challenges that you are participating in?

Also, which of my poems was your favorite? I would love to know. Thanks!

A: Among the Broken Glass
B: Beauty
C: Confusion
D: Death
E: Erase
F: Fate
G: Glimpse
H: Help!
I: Inspirations
J: Jupiter
K: Kryptonite
L: Loss
M: Moments
N: Nothing
O: Oblivion
P: Precipice
Q: Quiet
R: Revelation
S: Stifled
T: Tangled
U: Untethered
V: Vengeance
W: Weep
X: X Marks the Spot
Y: Yours
Z: Zoning Out

Asians Out Loud ~ Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai

I have decided to kick off Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with a poem by the Chinese-Taiwanese American def jam poetess Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai.

Like Kelly, I'm a Chinese American....or as we sometimes call ourselves, an ABC (American Born Chinese). My parents were both born in Mainland China and then fled to Taiwan during the war. After graduating college, my parents decided to come to the United States to live the American Dream.

Throughout my childhood, I have struggled with my identity.....my ethnic background and growing up Chinese in America. I never felt that I truly fit in....not in America and sure as heck not in China or Taiwan.  I just wanted to feel like I belonged.

For most of my adolescent life I felt as if I were teetering between two colliding worlds, and it was hard for me.....the racism that I encountered and the uneasy feeling that I would never really be accepted because of the way I look weighed heavily on me. It has taken me awhile....but I have learned to embrace everything that has made me the person I am today.

I am me
I am American

Click below to here an interview with Kelly from the HBO documentary East of Main Street: Asians Aloud. Kelly shares a little bit about herself and recites a one of her poems that I feel captures the emotions/thoughts that I have felt growing up Asian in America.





Do you have a def jam poet that you enjoy?

National Asian Pacific Heritage Month

YES! There is a month dedicated to the Asian & Pacific Islanders of America and it is celebrated during the month of May.

The Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

How many of you knew that this existed?

Back in 1978, Congress had passed a resolution to commemorate the Asian American Heritage week during the first week of May. Two factors played in the choosing of this week. First, it marked the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants on May 7th, 1843 and secondly, it marked the completion of the  transcontinental railroad by the Chinese on May 10, 1869. It was later decided in 1990, by President Bush, to expand the celebration to span the entire month of May....and so we now have the National Asian Pacific American Heritage month.

There are many festivals that will be taking place during this month all over the United States, so if you get the chance, do a little research ~ you might find one near you.

If you are in the New York area, there will be two festivals held. One on May 4th in Flushing and one on May 18th in Chinatown. You can get more information here at CAPA Online.

If you are interested and near Washington, DC, there will be a festival on May 18th, 2013. The festival will showcase a variety of things, such as art, food, performances and many other multi-cultural and interactive displays.

I have decided that during this month, I will highlight some famous and not so famous Asian Pacific Americans and give my readers some tidbits of Asian American culture. There are so many things that I never learned in history class, and I think that it's always a good thing to learn a little about the those who have contributed to the history of the United States.

I hope you join me this month.

You can also read more about APA Heritage month by visiting the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center