By Kurt Yokoyama-Ikeda (Column continues from June 10 NAP)
“I Carry”
Inspired by “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon & “I Am From” by Levi Romero
Where are you from?
Torrance, CA
No, really where are you from?
I am from the Pacific sea breeze.
The peach tree with busy bees
“Whose long gone limbs I remember
As if they were my own.”
Only a butterfly crest necklace
What daddy, left for me, remembers that.
You
Can
Carry
“Home.”
I carry my pens and papers, pencils and erasers,
From the house with a gunshot wound below my mother’s window sill.
I carry umeboshi plums, miso (fermented beans), and lactaid pills,
and hot summer day bicycle rides to Rite-Aid also.
I carry Nam-Myo-Ho-Renge-Kyo on Sundays.
I carry “Tadaima – I’m home” and “Okaeri – Welcome home.”
Only my parent’s parents and their parents
Who are now memories, knows that
You can carry a tune in two tongues
Where I’m from.
I carry Honolulu and Sakata, Gardena and Minidoka.
I carry my fiancée.
And the 22nd of August, 2020, too.
I carry Miyake and Okushiba, Yokoyama, and Ikeda.
I carry cities made of Crystals and mountains made of Hearts.
I pilgrimage to you.
From Obaachan riding her tricycle to dialysis
To mama and her sister by her side when she died.
I carry, “it can’t be helped – shikata ga nai”
Only what you can’t hear is the chime of grandma’s rice cooker when the cooking is done.
I carry this in my heart.
So when you ask me, where I am from.
Know that I carry fermented love.
Now, where are you from?
Create your own “I Carry” Poem
Inspired by “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon & “Where I’m From, De Donde yo soy” by Levi Romero.
DIRECTION: Ponder the following prompts, consider “only what you carry,” and create poetry to heal.
Where are you from?
(A place where you call home)
No, really where are you from?
I am from (the weather around where you live)
The (plant or tree near your home)
“Whose long gone limbs I remember
As if they were my own.”
Only (object passed down from a family member)
What (family members), left for me, remembers that.
You
Can
Carry
I carry (an everyday item in your home) and (everyday item in your home)
From the (description of your home)
I carry (family food), (family food), and (kitchen utensils or condiments)
and (a holiday, a season, or a celebration) also.
I carry (a song, song lyric, or a dance) on (day of the week or season)
I carry (something you were told as a child) and (another thing you were told as a child)
Only (someone you have lost) and (someone else you have lost)
Who are now memories, knows that
You can carry (your choice)
Where I’m from.
I carry (place of birth) and (other places you call home)
I carry (important people in your life)
And (an important date) too.
I carry (family names)
I carry (places that are important to your family)
I pilgrimage to you.
From (write about a family member who has passed)
To (write about a family member who is living)
I carry (the emotion you feel about these people)
Only what you can’t (see/feel/hear) is (something your family left behind or lost)
I carry this in my heart
So when you ask me, where I am from.
Know that I carry (your choice)
Now, where are you from?
*The above poem and its template are copyrighted by Kurt Yokoyama-Ikeda (2022).
Kurt Yokoyama-Ikeda (he/him) is Shin-Nisei educator by profession, poet by passion. Raised in the South Bay of Los Angeles, he lives in Idaho with his beloved wife April. Kurt preserves the legacy of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans as the Director of Interpretation and Education at Minidoka National Historic Site (Jerome, ID).
This poem was originally published in discovernikkei.org, which is a project of the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles.
