Yiping’s Asian Market

by Marcus Burns

Yiping’s Asian Market  by Marcus Burns

Is the only place we can find rice flour— An old and faded blue building,
the kind that appears long
because its facade is so narrow— Along with the shelves inside, 
packed with the wonders of a world not my own. 

I like to imagine its crowded aisles
as those dense city streets I see in movies, 
where a sea of dark heads surges
beneath a web of power lines and lanterns— 
Neon characters I can’t read flickering like 
stars, shouts I cannot understand cutting through
the sound and scent of street food sizzling. 

We are not there. We are in West Lebanon, 
the town in New Hampshire, 
where everywhere is named for somewhere else.
We are in Yiping’s Asian Market—
Where the rising sun is replaced with fluorescent lights 
that glint off golden calligraphy printed on paper bags. 
Light bounces between Thai curls and Khmer zigzags, 
Chinese brushstrokes, and the geometric lines of Hangul. 
Words adorned with dots and dashes jump out to me— 
My mother taught me them—bánh, tôm, and thịt bò. 
And glistening in its bag like white gold, we find it—bột gạo, rice flour. 

Back home we’re cooking bánh xèo for Thanksgiving—
Sizzling crepes—they’re my father’s favorite.
Grandpa boasts of how he used to swim across the Perfume River
every morning, back and forth, and of the girls who gathered to watch.
I see him out the window, bundled up against the northern chill
as my fingers freeze, digging into the shells of shrimp.
He is walking around Grandma’s tree, the young
and slender crab apple that grows from her ashes.
He is pulling up the plants around it—the weeds—one by one, ripping roots 
as I pull dark veins from the arched backs of the shrimp with my knife. 

I suppose it’s the least he could do.
Her sacrifice brought us to America, something to be grateful for. 
In her home by the banks of the river—
In the November woods she died trying to reach—
I pray she can smell the rice flour batter sizzling in the pan.
I pray she can hear our quiet thanks, wherever she is resting. 


About this young poet:
Marcus Burns 
Lyme, NH Northeast Region 

Marcus Burns grew up in the town of Lyme, New Hampshire, with his father from Brooklyn, New York, and his mother from Huế, Vietnam. For years, he’s loved exploring the woods and the brook by his house and school. In seventh grade at Crossroads Academy, Marcus was taught to analyze the works of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and W.B. Yeats, among others, by his English teacher, Mr. Glazer. He fell in love with the poetry of Robert Frost, setting a school record by memorizing thirty of his poems. Frost’s work is very relatable for Marcus, as much of it was written about the area he grew up in and mirrors his own experiences of the natural world. Marcus has maintained his love for poetry at St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont, with the encouragement of his English and creative writing teachers, Mrs. Mackenzie, Mrs. Jolliffe, and Mrs. Drew.


The National Student Poets Project:

https://www.flipsnack.com/artandwriting/nspp-chapbook-2024/full-view.html

The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers partner to present the National Student Poets Program (NSPP), the country’s highest honor for youth poets presenting original work. Five outstanding high school poets whose work exhibits exceptional creativity, dedication to craft, and promise are selected annually for a year of service as national poetry ambassadors. 
National Student Poets are chosen from among the Gold Key recipients
in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards with input from a national jury
of established poets and leaders in education and the arts. During
their year of service, the Student Poets receive academic awards and opportunities to present their work at writing and poetry events in libraries, museums, and other important venues. Throughout their term, they develop and lead community service projects, presented to a wide range of audiences in underserved communities in their regions. National Student Poets Program Alumni remain connected, continue their community service projects after their terms have concluded, and act as mentors for incoming classes. 

The National Student Poets Program is supported by funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

We are honored to celebrate the twelfth year of the National Student Poets Program and to introduce the gifted young writers appointed as the Class of 2024 National Student Poets. The literary arts, and poetry in particular, have the power to offer shared experiences that transcend the limitations of distance and difference and reconnect us with one another. Through their writing, these five Poets offer bold new ways forward. We cannot wait to see how they engage communities both in person and virtually during the year of service ahead. 

 

This link will take you to the download for a free chapbook of the students’ poems:
https://www.flipsnack.com/artandwriting/nspp-chapbook-2024/full-view.html