The Dia Art Foundation was established in 1974. It is recognized as a nonprofit organization that supports the publication and preservation of the arts. On may 13th they held a poetry reading that compared the styles and voices of two generation of contemporary poets. This event was open to the public at 6:30pm on 535 West 22nd street and had two guest poets arriving, Arlo Quint and John Yau. John Yau is a Chinese American poet and critic with a comical side to his poems. Arlo Quint is an American poet with a more serious style.
The event was very entertaining, but in my opinion, the highlight of the evening was when Mr. John Yau began to read from his collection. My favorite pieces were “Ing-Grish”, “Confessions of a Recycled Shopping Bag”, and one whose name I cannot recall, but began with the first verse “ My Fundamental self is at war with my multiple personalities”. My favorite of these three however is “Ing-Grish”. An interestingly written poem, it has its funny moments that keeps the reader interested and give the poem a unique sound. My favorite part of the entire poem is the final stanza. In it he writes, “I do not know either English or Chinese and, because of that,/ I did not put a gravestone at the head of my parents’ graves/ as I felt no language mirrored the ones they spoke”. What I believe this final stanza is trying to say is that language is unique to all of us in the way we speak and mean it, and therefore cannot be copied, mimicked, or compared. It is part of our identity.
Altogether I really enjoyed attending this poetry reading. My initial thought of this was strictly as an assignment but I ended up considering it more after. I am happy that I stayed for the entire reading. Even though I have not herd or read most of their poem, my first impressions of Arlo Quint and John Yau were that they are very talented individuals in their field. Their poems show their creativity and credibility. I will most likely attend another poetry reading during my free time, but not at the moment since they are mostly scheduled for the fall.
