Poem and Home

I was drawn to poet Li-Young Lee several years ago. No, I was actually drawn to the young(er) Li-Young Lee, Lee of the 90s, as shown in the video below. I am not a lit person so I don't know if I am using the right terminology, but I like the way Lee reads. His poems contain pauses, brief stops to just breathe and think. He is not dramatic. What differentiates the Lee of the 90s and Lee today is that, today his pauses get a little bit longer. They are like the dragging, scratching sound of erhu, forcing me to take an even deeper breath. The 90s Lee has more fire, toughness in his poems, in between the pauses, which I often associate with a tough spirit (he said that himself) and the (ideological, emotional) quarrels he had with his father.



http://vimeo.com/34956634