THROUGH THE FIRE: 9 haiku for July

By traci kato-kiriyama

(neighborhoods…)

Little Tokyo
names try to capture meaning
we lasso J-Town

—

shall there come a time
Walmart asks for permission
neighbors see through screens

—

boundless neighborhood
home not marked by lines, but by
regions of the heart

——-

(JA / Nikkei…)

Camp Musubi kids
come to feast on histories
create new futures

—

Katarou workshop
extraordinary Nikkei
generations mix

—

the foolish dances
trepidation at Obon
by the fools who watch

——-

(dads…)

Dad in happi coat
grin wide as Obon circles
best self, realized

—

he’d be eighty one
similar whispers mark time
a father’s birthday

—

June; a Father’s Day
July; a Father’s Birthday
August; fathers pass

traci kato-kiriyama writes from Gardena and is grateful for things like Obon, the Katarou Histories program, Camp Musubi and the markings of time… Opinion expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.