Picture+Bride

Poetry Imitation: [|“Picture Bride”] by Cathy Song

Poet Cathy Song

In Cathy Song’s “Picture Bride” the speaker imagines what her Korean grandmother must have gone through at 24, when she left Korea to become a picture bride.

In imagining out our progenitor’s experiences, especially when they were our age, we add substance to that invisible chain that links us together as family, and in this case, as women. In this workshop you will begin to write an imitation poem in which you travel a similar path.

Think about a family member or ancestor that has had some kind of influence on you. What do you know about him or her? What don’t you know? Think of a story or narrative that may remain unfinished. For instance, I know that my mother came to America on a ship from the Philippines when she was 18. I might write a poem imagining her thoughts and actions as she sees America for the very first time.

As in Songs’ poem, use only questions, not statements. Remember: this is an incomplete puzzle of sorts.