Chinese Silence No. 30

By Timothy Yu

after Eleanor Goodman, "Boston's Chinatown"

It’s easy to slam the Chinatowns of America.

They’re just a lot of red lanterns.

Yeah, there are Chinese people around,

But it’s all for tourists.

Their dirty alleyways remind me

Of that strange beast called American culture.

The peculiar smell of fish (how Chinese!)—

I’ve eaten hundreds of meals there.

So I move on to mock the shantytowns of Asia.

They’re just a lot of plywood and scrap metal.

Sure, I know there are poor people around.

I’ve seen Slumdog Millionaire.

I know the area pretty well.

I’ve hung out in “bad” neighborhoods before

Where the old men run their sketchy basement stores

But they have mostly disappeared.

And it’s all too tempting to denigrate

The postindustrial towns of the dull Midwest.

Of course I know there are unemployed people there.

I heard it on NPR.

Once I had to spend three hours

In the Detroit airport, with its vendors peddling

Chewing gum and soda.

But people don’t really live there.

Just don’t ask me to smash the glittering cities

Of cultural imperialism.

They teach English language skills

And how to adjust to life in the States.

Nobody really lives here.

As someone involved in translation

I’ve eaten hundreds of meals here.

Nobody speaks Chinese.

Source: 100 Chinese Silences (Les Figues Press, 2016)