Li Young-Lee; Early in the Morning

Early in the Morning seeps with nostalgia; a common setting for childhood memories, but also common for immigrants. Many images in the poem are conducive for nostalgia; the time of day, especially morning, especially early. Foods of childhood, especially local foods and customs. Birds remind us of time. Common or even mundane practices such as combing hair are anchors that remind us how special it was to be a child within the predictable stability of family. Her mother repeats the motion every day, her father like it just so. The poem flows with continuity; first we imagine the long grain, then the long hair. We begin with the light of early morning, and end behind the dark shroud of the unknown evening. The hair like curtains, the imagery hiding our imagery, left to wonder as a child might.