“Our Generation,” and “My Popo Talks to the Air” by Xiaoly Li appeared in Issue 41 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear more about “My Popo Talks to the Air.”
This poem came about after my Popo passed away during Covid. She was the most amazing, selfless person, always putting everyone else first. But as she got older, she started talking to herself and even cursing sometimes. I figured she must have carried a lot of pain throughout her life, and this was her way of letting it out. The day before she passed away, completely out of the blue, she was still worried about us catching the virus and sent us home. Then, she took off her oxygen. It was heartbreaking but also incredibly touching.
What was the most difficult part of this poem?
The hardest part was capturing both sides of her. My Popo could be tough and even swear at times unconsciously, but she was also the most loving person I knew. I wanted to show both aspects of her and still make the poem feel like a tribute to her.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
I would recommend Pitching for the Apostates by Paul Hostovsky. It’s written in a really conversational style that makes you think, “Wow, that’s so true!” I also love his sense of humor and playfulness.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
Martin Willitts, Jr. seems like he just breathes poetry. Poems flow out of him naturally. He’s also amazing at observing nature and has a really meditative quality to his writing. He seems strong despite facing challenges in life, and on top of that, he’s just a super kind and loving person. I certainly want to have a drink with him.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
I’m currently revising and submitting my second poetry collection called “Between the Sun and the Moon.” It has made it to the finals of the Diode Editions book contest.
Our thanks to Xiaoly for taking the time to answer a few questions and share these poems. Read “Our Generation,” and “My Popo Talks to the Air” here.
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Xiaoly Li is a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Grant (2022) recipient. Her poetry collection, Every Single Bird Rising (FutureCycle Press, April 2023), was a Zone 3 Press Book Award finalist. Her poetry collection manuscript, Touching Horizons (Between the Sun and the Moon) was a finalist of 2023 Diode Editions Book & Chapbook Contests. Her poetry is featured, or anthologized in Verse Daily, diode, Salamander, Saranac Review, Spillway, PANK, Chautauqua, Rhino, and elsewhere. She has been nominated for: Best New Poets, three times a Pushcart Prize, four times Best of the Net. She lives in Massachusetts where her photography has been shown and sold in galleries in Boston. Xiaoly received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and her Master’s in computer science and engineering from Tsinghua University in China. For additional information, please reference her website: xiaolyli.art