In Lexington, an Evening with the Poet Li-Young Lee

The following was written by Melissa Russell, on behalf of Lexington Community Education.

As he introduced poet Li-Young Lee to an expectant audience gathered at the Depot Tuesday evening, Lexington Community Education director Craig Hall said reading the lyric poet's "wonderfully healing" work "reminds me how deadened I've become--and that's a good thing, as it reminds me of the possibility of renewal."

Lee, considered by poet Gerald Stern to be a spiritual descendant of the great masters, including John Keats and Rainer Maria Rile, appeared as part of the community education department's special speaker series. He had spent part of the day speaking with Lexington High School students, Hall said.

Sitting cross-legged on a makeshift stage, Lee read several pieces in the course of an hour, accompanied on sitar by David Whetstone. His works, lush and passionate, were characterized by the contemplation of the infinite in everyday moments and childhood memories, and incorporated vast silences and epic pauses.

Lee shared new unpublished poems as well as work from previous collections including "Behind My Eyes:"
 

Called life, she is a pomegranate
pecked clean by birds to entirely
become a part of their flying.
Do you love me? she asks.
I love you,
she answers, and the world keeps beginning.

 

Lee was born in Djakarta, Indonesia in 1957 to Chinese political exiles. Both of his parents came from powerful Chinese parents: Lee's great grandfather was the first president of the Republic of China, and his father had been the personal physician to Mao Tse-tsung. Due to anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia, Lee's father was arrested and held as a political prisoner for a year. After his release, the family fled through Hong Kong, Macau and Japan, arriving in the U.S. in 1964. They eventually settled in Pennsylvania.

Influenced by the classical Chinese poets Li Bo and Tu Fu, Lee began writing poetry as a student at the University of Pittsburgh. His poetry is noted for its use of silence, and according to Alex Lemon of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, its "near mysticism." As the sitar masterfully wove ancient ragas around the poet's words, that tendency toward transcendence was clearly evident.

Li-Young Lee is the author of several books, including Rose, his debut collection, published in 1986, The City in Which I Love You (1990), The Winged Seed: A Remembrance (1995), The Book of My Nights (2001), and Behind My Eyes (2008). He is also the author of Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee (2006).

For more information about Lexington Community Education's special events and course offerings, please visit lexingtoncommunityed.org.