My Body is Not My Body: Four Tanforan Poems

A row of Japanese characters (kanji), translated in the text.
Kyō no hi mo munashiku suginu asu mo mata itsu wo warehi ni tachikaerubeki
An elderly Japanese American man stands in front of a horse stall apartment, with a stool that he has made. The door to the stall apartment is open. Inside there is a woman and child, and a vase of flowers on a simple table.
San Bruno, Calfiornia. This assembly center has been opened for two days. Busload after busload of evacuated Japanese are arriving this day. After going through the necessary procedures, they are guided to the quarters assigned to them in the barracks. This family newly arrived, are in the process of settling down. The old man proudly exhibits the bench which he has just made out of scrap lumber left over from construction. The quarters to which this family were assigned are remodeled horsestalls. WRA, NARA 537674.
Today, the whole day
I spent doing nothing.
Tomorrow will be the same.
When can I return
to a day I may call my own?

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