I Ask My Mother to Sing By Li-Young Lee (Grade 4-6)

Li-Young Lee was born in Indonesia to Chinese parents, but had to flee due to rising anti-chinese sentiments. They fled to Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan, finally arriving in the United States in 1964. Although Lee’s parents were from China, he himself has never been to China. So in the poem I ask my mother to sing, Lee talks about how his mother and grandmother sing about all the wonders in China. Through this song, Lee is able to envision his parents’ birthplace with much clarity, despite having never been there before. Despite being a poem with a light and beautiful tone, it depicts the pain of exile from one’s homeland.