[Poem] Song For A Sansei

I remember her story

Of a white life

That took some getting used to.

White family. White holidays. White food:
Codfish, cauliflower, vanilla pudding, potatoes and
Gravy, poultry, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

A life of snow in which
I, too, find the mirror of I Am

Not necessarily followed by "made of,"
Perhaps simply "Among, with love,"
That you can’t help in a world like this

I’d meditate more on her graying words
But the jazz-soaked bartender at the edge of this dark room
Is reminding me

We only get 5 minutes each
To talk about our own yellow lifetimes.

From Japonisme, Laoisme and Other Poems, 2012

On February 19th, 1976, President Ford's  Proclamation 4417 rescinded Executive Order 9066 for the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps during World War II.