ANOUK YEH, 15
Anouk Yeh is a poet and activist from the Bay Area in California. She is the 2018 Slam Champion of Cupertino City’s Annual Youth Poetry Slam, and enjoys writing about her experience as a second-generation Asian American and Generation Z-er growing up in America. She draws inspiration from the poet Andrea Gibson, whose honest and often heart-wrenching writing serves as a constant reminder for Yeh to always speak her truth without reservation.
As the daughter of Taiwanese American immigrants, Yeh has spent her entire life trying to balance two seemingly contrasting cultures in one body, only to realize that different cultures and peoples have more commonalities than differences. Yeh writes in the hope that her poetry can help eradicate prejudices against minority groups. She hopes that her poetry can serve as a rallying cry for the unification of all peoples.
Yeh is an accomplished orator, breaking elimination rounds at the International Cal Invitational and Santa Clara University Dempsey Cronin Invitational Speech Tournaments. She has been invited to speak at San Jose City’s “Be the One” peace conference, the March for Our Lives Rally for Change, and Oakland City’s 2019 Women’s March. Yeh has spoken at events featuring prominent political figures such as Congresswoman Anna Eshoo and peace activist Ela Gandhi. Yeh is a youth ambassador for March for Our Lives San Jose, and organized Saratoga High School’s March for Our Lives Walkout. She is currently working with San Jose City’s District Attorney Office to create a gun violence prevention project for the youth. She is the founder and president of Saratoga High School’s Leo Club, a nonprofit youth-driven service initiative, and the founder of Saratoga City’s annual “Celebrating Differences” Special Needs Carnival Event.
ageism and the gun problem
by Anouk Yeh
don’t tell us that we are too young
when we say your “background checks” are a problem
so don’t tell us we are too young
when we say that
the fact that there have been 345 mass shootings
in the past 365 days
is a problem
when we say fear in our schools is a problem
when we say premature death is a problem
when we come together and say that america’s sadistic romance with guns is a problem
when we lobby for gun reform
don’t tell us that we are too young
when we come together and support our brothers and sisters
at santa fe
at lexington
at seaside
birmingham
raytown
ocala
palmdale
dixon
noblesville
wellington
school shootings that our NRA-funded government
tried to cover
tried to mask over
like as long as we don’t acknowledge it
it’s not happening
i wonder if it’s hard
to wear young blood as concealer
how easy it must be
to blame mental illness as the real perpetrator
to tell us it’s not the guns
it’s the people
tell us what’s traditional can’t hurt us
no matter how customary
no matter how time honored your guns are
yes
they still kill
yes
we still bleed when we’re shot
so when we are the ones
who step up and say to our fellow students
here
i don’t know you
but your life is mine
and mine yours
here
although i’m only your age
and our souls seem light years apart
i will do anything in my power to keep you safe
don’t tell us that we are too young
when we say that we are fearful of going to school
don’t tell us that we are too young to know fear
when there are people my age
who have already had to look fear straight in the eyes
stare down fear
at its 20 round high caliber bullets and semi-automatic switch
and have it stare right back
who know that there is something wrong
when the only thing keeping an elementary school
from becoming target practice
are thoughts and prayers
so don’t tell us that we are too young
when we come together to say that there is no hall pass large enough
to excuse america from its screaming absence on gun reform
when we come together
and say
that it’s not america’s mental illness problem
that it’s not america’s educational problem
that it’s not america’s cultural or historical problem
that excuses the fact that america has a gun problem
don’t tell us that we are too young