"Notes on Longing"a Poem by Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang Noted on MTA Today

During hell week in NYC with the president & the UN in session, the subway is the best mode of transportation.  Getting around the town is thwarted by an oppressive ugly gridlock.  I was in luck to spot Tina Chang's bittersweet & enchanting poem "Notes on Longing."  Chang (b NYC 1969) has been named Brooklyn's Poet Laureate (2010) and has been a finalist for the Asian-American Literary Award.  NYC claims with pride Ms. Chang as our hometown Poet Laureate.  The title of the poem speaks to burgeoning aspirations.  The poem permits a voyeuristic look in on Asian-American families, perhaps with first generation youngsters, gathered round the dinner table.  These often over-looked everyday lives are being nurtured to sprout and claim their futures yet unfurled.                                    
                                                     
                                                   "Notes on Longing"

It smells of after-rain tonight.
Duck bones, a wounded egg on rice.
On the corner, there is a shop
that makes keys, keys that open
human doors, doors that lead to rooms that hold families
of four or seven who sit at a table.
There is a mother who brings
sizzling flounder on a wide platter
for the family whose ordinary
mouths have been made to sing.