Funky Oriental Beats: My first poetry experience in Auckland

My first poetry reading in Auckland was the Funky Oriental beats, a forum for asian-kiwi poets to express themselves in a free and safe space through hip hop culture. And they completely blew me away. I try not to enter poetry readings with a preconception, but I think at this point, after going to so many, it’s hard not to guess what to expect.

But let’s start at the beginning. I was exhausted when I arrived at the Whammy Bar. I don’t know what hit me, maybe I met Renee Liang finally, who greet me with a HUGE smile. She struck me as a charming, friendly woman, and she was my height, which made me like her even more. A Medical Intern by day, a poet by night. And man, her poetry is fantastic.

In fact, all of the poetry I heard that night was fantastic.

As I set up my camera, a woman with long braided hair and dressed in a beautiful orange dress approached me with a smile and greeted me with a hug. I recognized her instantly. Ishle Park, one of the top poets to come out of the New York scene, the first woman to be named Poet Laureate of Brooklyn. When she spoke, my heart tugged a bit at the familiar sound of her accent. I have spent the last 6 months avoiding anyone who sounds like me, but man, hearing her sounded so deliciously wonderful. She wanted to know the details of my fellowship, and I told her the whole story. At the end of my explanation, she told me I was lucky. I said that I knew it, and that I felt very blessed, then realizing who I was talking to, added quietly “I don’t know why they gave it to me, though, really.” I looked away

“Because you deserve it” I heard her say

I giggled, slightly embarassed. I expected her to laugh with me. But she was quiet. When I looked back at her, she was completely serious. She put her hand on my arm. “You do deserve it.” She repeated, and gave my arm a squeeze.



Later that night, as I saw each poet get up on stage and tell me their stories, I realized that I had for some reason downplayed the weight of my work in my own mind. As I saw Renee performing her iconic poem “Chinglish” about balancing two somewhat opposing cultures in her life while living in Auckland, and Ishle performing a poem about coming to terms with her heritage while growing up in New York, I felt reinvigorated. I remembered why I love spoken word so much. I was no longer an alien in their space. They were sharing their stories with me, and I was able to become a part of it. I was able to understand, just for a moment, their perspective- their every day encounters with innocent prejudice ( strange woman on the street: “oh you speak english very well” poet’s response “I grew up here. You speak english very well also.”) and not so innocent prejudice ( poet’s ex-girlfriend: “we’re breaking up because you’re too asian”). I was honored to be there, and so incredibly happy to be exposed to such honest and inspiring talent.

Later that night, during the drive home, a friend asked me “So were you the only white person there?” Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about it. I laughed a bit and said “well, we’re all the same on the inside. On the inside, I could be Asian-Kiwi, I suppose.”

What? I could be.