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Lawson Fusao Inada

Lawson Fusao Inada Reflects on Japanese Internment

Shadows
by Lawson Fusao Inada

By then, the boy
had become
some refugee,
tattered, torn.

But then, the uncle
had become
some corporal,
in uniform.

Shadows shadowed.
Time would tell.

The Stand

I am somewhere
where I have decided to stand.

There has been long
maneuvering,

having been staked to a land,
sowing in the heat,

moving huge tools
in an absurdity of moon.

Chanting, I find the chanting soothes.
That sweet voice is ruined.

I move now,
sifting pavements through my feet,

sweat in the eyes, a horizon.
Sun turns the wheat.

Braced to my spine,
I resume the chanting--

utterances in a sound
octaves older than my own.

Planetary Voices

So many
varied languages.

So many
varied emotions.

So many
spirits, songs,

Planetary voices,
as the world revolves.

It Goes Without Saying

Perhaps it
Was birdsong
At the break
Of dawn.

And where was
The bird?
On a tree?
On the ground?

And where was
The sun?
Above?
Behind?

And where was
The you?
Between?
Among?

Be that
As it may.
It goes
Without saying.




	Lawson Fusao Inada was named Poet Laureate of Oregon in 2006 and is emeritus professor of writing at Southern Oregon University. He is the author of five books of poetry, including: "Before the War" (1971); "Legends from Camp" (1993, American Book Award); "In This Great Land of Freedom" (1993); and "Drawing the Line" (1997). He is also the editor of several books about Asian American writing and history and was the narrator for the PBS specials, "Children of the Camps" and "Conscience and the Constitution." Inada was born in 1938 in Fresno, Calif. Four years later, Inada's family, along with more than a hundred thousand other Japanese Americans, was sent to internment camps in California, Colorado and Arkansas for the duration of World War II. He was one of the youngest Japanese Americans to live in the camps. In addition to his experiences at the internment camps, many of Inada's poems are influenced by his love of jazz music.


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