Troy Osaki on the Filipino diaspora in the Pacific

Each day during the month of April, KUOW is highlighting the work of Seattle-based poets for National Poetry Month. In this series curated by Seattle Civic Poet and 10,000 Things host Shin Yu Pai, you'll find a selection of poems for the mind, heart, senses, and soul.

Spoken word poet Troy Osaki writes eloquently and tenderly of Filipino workers on the frontlines to bring visibility to their labor throughout the Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Reflecting on the global economy that creates the circumstances for human trafficking and the labor diaspora, Osaki's poem speaks deeply to identity and the longing for home.

The grandson of Filipino immigrants and the great-grandson of Japanese immigrants, Troy Osaki is a poet, organizer, and attorney. Osaki is a three-time grand slam poetry champion and has earned fellowships from Kundiman, Hugo House, and Jack Straw Cultural Center. He was awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry fellowship from the Poetry Foundation in 2022. His poetry has appeared in Crazyhorse, the Margins, Muzzle Magazine, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and elsewhere. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Seattle University School of Law where he interned at Creative Justice, an arts-based alternative to incarceration for youth in King County.