I read from Equivalence (with slide show) last week to a group of Taiwanese English students at Kaoshiung University. The comprehension factor was tough as the students had no previous exposure to literature in the English language. Afterwards one student asked me rather shyly why I have so many poems on Asian topics. I am viewed as an American by both the elder and younger generations here, so there is this presumption of what that should look like. One positive outcome from the reading was that my mother, a visual artist, finally really made a connection with my work. She saw the galley and I sent her a copy of the book when it came out, and I know that she's read the poems and pulled out the dictionary when she comes across unfamiliar words. But for her, seeing slide photos of Wolfgang Laib's work and Jackson Pollock, that tied everything together for her. It was really amazing to see the comprehension registeriing on her face and the deeper meaning coming through. Dad had a conflicting lecture at the time of my reading but arrived with 3 poems to go in my reading. I noticed that when he walked in the room, my inner child had a minor freak out - I started stammering, slipping on the language thing - saying um a lot and getting really self-conscious. In all the years that I have been giving performances, this was the very first time my dad had been in the room and I realized what a big moment that was emotionally.