PANA Institute for Leadership Development

The 2009 Manzanar Pilgrims wrote two poems together as a group: "Mourning" and "Joy". Pilgrim Allan Balalao of CDSP also shared his poem, "If Only..."

Mourning
written collectively by the 2009 PANA Pilgrims to Manzanar

Native land
raped
dry
Native tears run down
dusty
Japanese features, history
becomes muddy yet again
Obasan is behind
barbed-wire boundaries then
and now.
Silence becomes the bitter taste
that breaks family into
blocks and barracks
Her cheek catches
the coolness of wind
against
warm, angry tears
they are blown back.
they
have not forgotten becoming
mired on the bloody banks
of mistaken identity
enemy
her smile is the smile
of the
enemy
his song is the song of the enemy
her tears are suspect, they flow
much too freely
to be friendly
they are ancient having flowed forever
scarred
onto the face of her soul

Joy
written collectively by the 2009 PANA Pilgrims to Manzanar

Flower in desert rock
Garden world in prison camp
Ice fed stream
Runs down desert wall
“gone fishin”
Under gun turret

surviving with beauty
dawn
early sun and new day of hope and promise
pleasure garden
diamond in the sand
with flowers

rock gardens
wild dandelions springing up around graves
erupting into dance

dancing with friends
singing with love and happiness
enjoying God’s creation

Being with the internees
listening to their stories
Honoring history
A revelation from storytelling
Road to healing

Children, youth
living life to the fullest
with open hearts to love
and the joy of living with hope from
mom and dad’s deep trust in love, God, community

The people who came back standing proud
People who protest injustice to others
People who write their own history

the enduring resilience and triumph of spirit
“it’s what you do with it”
A resurrection – to hope and future
Spirit lives in All

the solidarity – power of handshakes,
praying together in connectedness
companionship of communion- relationship.
We…. holding hands towards future
“Manzanar experience.”

If Only
by pilgrim Allan Balalao, CDSP

If only I could have a good paying job back home
I never had to leave my beloved country.
If only I had found a buried treasure
A better life I would have lived.

Or what if I became WHITE.
Would it make any difference?
Would I have the better life I longed for?
And not to be oppressed anymore?

If only racism and oppression be set aside
Would my ancestors, native, or indigenous people,
Ever been called uncivilized, savage,
And Barbarian?

If people learns to acknowledge their guilt, their fault.
Would dialogue be possible?
If people learns to forgive and relinquish.
Would the process of reconciliation start?

If God made us equal
Why do people suffer because of their color?
Does color ever matters?
Do people ever learn?

If only Manzanar’s story and other silent stories will be known everywhere.
Would it change history?
Does it make any significant difference?
Would there be change?

Manzanar…………Acknowledge……..
Relinquish…………Forgive………….
Learn………………Never Again!
If only these words were imprinted in our hearts

IF ONLY………….