Celestial Feathers

I am not particularly fond of birds. However, on the ring finger of my left hand, two silver feathers are in a parallel embrace. One feather is a reminder of my first poem – “Feather” – about a boy who harms a bluejay to impress his girl; the other is a token of how far I have gone in my journey as a writer.

I write whilst intoxicated by late night thoughts: malevolent deeds of careless dictators, oversimplified chemistry concepts, Freudian dream interpretations, forgotten cries from broken women in bustling cities. My writing is like a journal of intellectual curiosity: it is where I jot down my thoughts in the form of a cryptic language.

Once, whilst studying Mao Zedong in history class, I started writing a poem titled “Lantern” – based on a Chinese legend about the Mid-Autumn Festival. Unconsciously, I rooted the reader in Mao’s regime by including images of communism, women’s rights and a prevalence of poverty. Motivated by curiosity, I produced this spoken word poem shaped like a crescent moon: a way for me to remember concepts I studied in history class.

 Although I write creatively to express my personal feelings, my pieces end up becoming inspired by academic concepts that I ponder about. Just as much as they reflect what was going on in the quirky wirings of my brain, they stand alone as commentaries about my world and community.  To recall concepts from “Jazz” by Toni Morrison, I wrote a commentary about intertextual references that conveyed feminist struggles during the Harlem Renaissance. To comprehend theories in social psychology, I wrote a speech about the dangers of an individual pursuing unrelenting individualism. To reflect on a problem that I resolved for Student Council, I wrote a poem about the subjective and fragile nature of language. I channel my wild thoughts into seemingly sophisticated pieces.

Feathers remind me of my dauntless growth from a naive schoolgirl to a budding poet who aims to empower the world through her writing. Writing gives me an opportunity to explore and satisfy untamed curiosities. I write pieces that hope to serve as a platform for readers to love the spunk that life has to offer. My hope is that my work can open people’s minds to fresh perspectives and encourage open conversations.