Orbit: The Asian American Issue
Volume 15:3, Summer 2014
Vegan
After 27 years
my father tells me
he wants to create an all vegan menu.
Hes getting tired
of cutting fish heads in half,
of watching the blade
slide through their faces,
of the arthritis hurting his hands
from breaking their bones,
of the blood on his fingers,
how it looks so
human.
I wonder if America will ever give up meat.
Or grow tired
of splitting lives in half
one school at a time.
At 23 years old, G. Yamazawa is the youngest poet in the nation to become a National Poetry Slam Finalist, Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist, and Southern Fried Champion. A second generation Japanese-American and Durham, NC native,Yamazawa has been a featured performer in over forty American cities and five European countries, as well as at the Sundance Film Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival, and Season 3 of TV One's Verses and Flow. He is a Kundiman Fellow, Busboys and Poets host, and youth mentor.