The Red Sweater

“Feasting” by Joseph O. Legaspi (2017)

As in “The Red Sweater,” Legaspi uses sensory details to create a vivid picture. This poem is set in the Philippines at a roadside feast of jackfruit. Engaging with a similar theme of foreignness and belonging, the poem ends with the poet recognizing that the country of his birth may be foreign to him now, “but I’m not foreign to it” (Line 16).

“Those Winter Sundays“ by Robert Hayden (1966)

The speaker in Hayden’s poem looks back at the work his father did to support his family. As an adult he finally recognizes the early morning labor and understands what his childhood self could not: “love’s austere and lonely offices” (Line 14). Though the speaker in “The Red Sweater” is quite aware of his mother’s work in the moment, the poems share a focus on parents and their hard work, survival, and love.

“The Gift“ by Li-Young Lee (1986)

Li-Young Lee was one of the Asian American poets who inspired Legaspi. This poem explores the bonds of family—the love between father and son expressed through an act of caretaking and kindness—and how that love echoes in his married life.