I really love this picture!
The poem I will be focusing on by Kelly Tsai is entitled “Lili’s Hands.” While there are many literary elements one could use to analyze this poem, I could not veer away from imagery. Though we never know as readers who this hard working woman is, we are able to see the endless tasks she manages, and can even speculate on her background. Tsai helps the reader understand who Lili is and her experience as a worker through the images she provides.
The images of the food allow the reader to taste Lili’s experience through their senses. Tsai paints scenes where Lili works with a variety of foods that include: “ fish, rice noodles, garlic, bittermelon, buns, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, tofu, and chicken feet.” It was impossible for me not to image these delicious foods and cooking ingredients, especially when they are attached to verbs. Just reading these multiple types of food dill my imagination with scents and feelings that Lili is exposed to. It is the food that gives the reader a further look into who this mysterious woman is. Lili uses a “wok” to put most of the ingredients in, specifically the oils and sauces. The wok is usually associated with Asian cultures, among others, so the reader can only assume that Lili is from an Asian background. Of course, this is all speculation but knowing more of Lili’s identity deepens our understanding of her roles. Where is she from? Why is she working for these people? Was she forced to work here and take on this “maid-like” position? Many questions arose for me after taking note of all the ingredients to her meals, and though they never are fully answered, it is possible to know Lili’s importance to the household. I loved the stanza that says that Lili’s hands “soak the bittermelon/ and suck it of/ its dry newspaper taste” because I thought it showed how kind-hearted Lili is. Perhaps she must soak the melon to rid its awful taste in order to please the people she is serving, or she could be doing it out of consideration and care. If so, it shows how committed she is to her job, that in putting in hard effort she might make more money or her stay in the house is prolonged. The images of the food help the reader visualize what Lili sees daily, but also who she is in a bigger picture, not just of a server in a household.
The movements of Lili’s hands convey the hard work she exerts in a daily basis. Tsai uses multiple verbs to show Lili’s job: slice, dump, smash, spin, soak, wipe, pile, dash, cube, cure, wipe, massage, curves, rub, ball, and pulls. These specific words convey the labor Lili has on her hands and on her role as a woman and a worker in a household. The reader has no knowledge of who she is because she does not get a voice in this poem. The imagery does not even give Lili a voice of her own and merely show some of the chores she must do daily. These tasks are not easy though and range from cooking and piling buns to taking care of the people she is living with. Tsai writes that Lili’s hands “massage my uncle’s feet/ bloated from a lifetime/ of a soldier’s walk” and that they “cube tofu/cure chicken feet/wipe the shit stains/from my aunt’s toilet.” It is evident that the labor Lili has to endure is not just cooking large meals for the family, but she also has to take care of their personal cares that involved feet and feces. I imagine that Lili has a great tolerance for cleaning up after people and having to touch their grimy body parts or excretions. I gained more respect for all her hard work after I read that being a chef is not where it all ends. I also got the feeling that Lili may not be appreciated in the household she labors in, that she is ignored or seen as a mindless maid.
Imagery helps the reader see the conditions Lili must live in and how she feels about it. We understand how Lili feels about her job as a whole when she her hands “ball into tiny fists/as she pulls her/ blanket over her head/ on the cot/ in the back room/ next to the laundry machine.” I imagined Lili curling into a ball in her cot as the laundry machine blasts in her ears. I also saw this house as having thin walls and Lili being able to hear every movement and voice. Yet, no one hears her, not even the reader; we see her. Being in a room that is located in the back of the house, next to the laundry room, is a crappy place to sleep! This image could be a metaphor for Lili’s class standing and social value as a human. The reader gains perspective on how Lili feels about her staying in this house by the way she moves her hands. They “ball into tiny fists” and “pull her blanket over her head” and show the reader how strong and resilient she is. Her hands are more than tools of creation, but they are also doors into Lili’s soul.
