This poem “Notes on Longing” by Tina Chang is her perspective towards her family. Her poem reveals the significance of family and background. She describes the her feelings of the place where she is, and where she comes from(china). I think she is tributing to her home,”notes of longing ” in my opinion means she is far away from home so by writing this poem she feels more closer.
I do agree with you that the poem is centered around family and her background, but I wouldn’t say the place she is describing is China. The only place she has described in the poem is “On the corner, there is a shop/ that makes keys,…”(Line 3-4). Her poem isn’t about a yearning for where she was born, which would be Oklahoma. I would say what the poem best describes is the comfort of home. Continuing from the line I quoted “…keys that open/ human doors, doors that lead/ to rooms that hold families/ of four or seven who sit at a table.”(line 4-7). The poem ” Notes of Longing” is a poem about the nostalgia of homely comforts, which we all can sympathize with since we all have something we grew up with and wish to go back to.