And other myths

Abstract

I do not consider it my job to create meaning; that responsibility lies with the reader. I seek to point in a general direction and allow the reader to bring his/her own experiences to the poem and complete the dialogue between writer and reader. I employ this idea in And Other Myths by use of juxtaposition, by using leaps within a poem to create seams in which a reader may impart or implicate a sense of him/herself. A poem may appear simple but open itself up to complexity with further readings, this is what the poems in And Other Myths strive to do. The poems use myth and subtext/ambiguity to go outside the self and home as a way of looking back and exploring the experience of American culture, of identity. This experience is frequently explored through the scope of my family and Korean heritage, also by creating a myth of the mundane. The mythic form helps to impart a strong sense of legacy and ancestry, but through the lens of a Korean/American upbringing. The sense of the "other" in relation to identity strongly influences my work, not just in a cultural sense, but also in a human sense.