Windows and Mirrors
A Poem by Viola Lee
Windows and mirrors are in the stories we tell
in the stories we read, in the stories we write, in the lives we lead,
in our lived experiences.
Windows and mirrors are the very things
that call a place a place, that call a home, a home,
School, school, that call my favorite park,
the place to run and jump freely.
They are the people we love, the people in our families
and in our schools, and in our communities,
our neighbors.
They are the names, the beautiful names, we are given.
The beautiful names we write in all the ways we write them.
They are in the foods we eat. You see, my parents are Korean,
and it is in all the delicious food my mom made
for me growing up that comforts me, warms me, keeps me growing, growing.
We grew up working class, meaning money was tight,
and this is also a window and a mirror.
I am a girl. My best friend identifies as cis, my dear, dear friends,
non-binary and trans. Love them all. Do you hear me?!
I unfortunately can not smell. I lost it when I was younger.
I think I understand my friends who need extra support to do daily activities.
This is a window, this is a mirror.
I love my teachers. And what we do and how we work together
with each other are also windows and mirrors.
I love nature and spend as much time outside,
especially in the warmer months.
Sometimes I sit down on the earth and I read a story
and I write a poem and this too is also both a window and a mirror.
Like all windows, they allow me to listen or see the outside,
And mirrors too allow me to look back,
Stories become mirrors when you and I see
or read our lives reflected on the page.
Stories are windows when they allow us
to listen or view lives that are different from our very own.
Windows and mirrors are in the stories we tell,
are in the stories we read,
in the stories we write, in the lives we lead.
I see! You see! I hear! You hear!
You and me, you and me, you, me, we are free.
Recently, the National Endowment for the Arts shared that they are now prioritizing projects that celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. They are also significantly reducing funding for programs focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and are now limiting support for projects that promote "gender". This is concerning to the arts community, to myself as an educator and poet, and to the students I serve. This also means that arts organizations will now need to reframe their mission and values to align with these new priorities. But, this is also concerning to my own children and the students I serve. You see the children I work with are working hard to celebrate their identities and their differences. I am fueled by this act of aggression and this poem was written to celebrate the idea of Windows and Mirrors. I am writing this to all those who are disabled, who have been The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Diocese of Washington, said Wednesday that she will continue to pray for President Donald Trump, hours after he lashed out at her over a sermon.
VIOLA LEE graduated from NYU with an MFA in Poetry. Her book Lightening after the Echo was published by Another New Calligraphy. She has published poems in literary journals throughout the US, and has recently published in Barrow Street, Bellevue Literary Review, Mississippi Review and Another Chicago Magazine. Her poems won finalist in the Pleiades Prufer Poetry Prize and the 2022 Mississippi Review Poetry Prize. Her manuscript The Only Home was a finalist in the 2023 Switchback Books’ Gatewood Prize, semi-finalist in the 2023 Perugia Press Poetry Prize and finalist in the 2024 X.J. Kennedy Poetry Prize. She lives in Chicago with her husband, son and daughter. She teaches 4th, 5th and 6th graders at Near North Montessori School in Chicago.
