they left with only what they could carry  

they left their farms with rows of strawberries
rows of artichokes     lettuce  

they left their homes with their shoes outside
on the front steps and the dog in the yard  

they left their stores where they sold hardware
they left their stores where they cleaned clothes  

they left their restaurants
they left quietly   no fuss   they did not bow  

they did not want to seem Japanese
they did not want to seem subservient  

they wanted to seem American
they were American  

they were missed by the townspeople
where they had lived  

then they weren’t missed by
the townspeople where they had lived  

 it was as though they had never lived there

back to top

send comments to info@poetrybay.com

first electronic copyright 2000 poetrybay. 
all rights revert to author