The Immigrant's Song

“Lament—I” by Tishani Doshi (2013)

“Lament–I,” from Doshi’s collection Everything Begins Elsewhere (2013), opens with the lines “When I see the houses in this city, / the electric gates and uniformed men / employed to guard the riches of the rich” (Lines 1-3). This poem shares another perspective of the immigrant who grew up in a culture, location, and village vastly different from the city in which they find themself. “Lament–I,” written as a lament (similar to a song), is an important poem to study alongside “The Immigrant’s Song.”

“How to Be Happy in 101 Days” by Tishani Doshi (2017)

From Doshi’s most recent collection of poetry, Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods (2017), “How to Be Happy in 101 Days” is a poem seemingly written with western culture in mind. Doshi, who attended college in America and worked for several years in London, and who has also widely traveled, returned to India in 2001 and currently lives in a small village in Tamil Nadu. This poem touches on the problems of materialism, western society, and a turn toward the simple to discover happiness (and oneself).

“Personal Effects” by Solmaz Sharif (2016)