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By Amy Uyematsu

So by sixteen we move in packs
learn to strut and slide
in deliberate lowdown rhythm
talk in a syn/co/pa/ted beat
because we want so bad
to be cool, never to be mistaken
for white, even when we leave
these rowdier L.A. streets—
remember how we paint our eyes
like gangsters
flash our legs in nylons
sassy black high heels
or two inch zippered boots
stack them by the door at night
next to Daddy’s muddy gardening shoes.


Amy Uyematsu, "Deliberate" from Nights of Fire, Nights of Rain, published by Story Line Press.  Copyright © 1997 by Amy Uyematsu.  Reprinted with the permission of the author.

Source: Nights of Fire Nights of Rain (Story Line Press, 1997)

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Poet Bio

Amy Uyematsu
Amy Uyematsu grew up in southern California. Her poetry grows out of the conflict between her wish to belong to the culture around her and her strong sense of ethnic identity — like many Japanese Americans during World War II, her parents and grandparents were interned. A high school math teacher, she has published three collections: 30 Miles from J-Town; Nights of Fire, Nights of Rain; and Stone Bow Prayer. See More By This Poet

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