Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2022/6/16/nikkei-uncovered-67/

Memory and labyrinths

This month we are pleased to present the Peruvian poet and psychologist Kazuko Kikushima. Once again, my partner's mother helped me understand the beauty and depth of this poem, a moving piece that calls to the memory of a loved one and the things we call and let go in the labyrinth of complex relationships. Enjoy!

—traci kato-kiriyama

* * * * *

Kazuko Kikushima is a psychologist and communicator. His greatest references in poetry are Jose Watanabe (Trujillo, Peru) and Gustavo Pereira (Punta de Piedras, Venezuela). In July 2017 he published his first collection of poems TATTOOS . In October of that same year she was invited to participate in the 4th Poetry Caravan Festival in Lima, and in November she was invited to participate in the II International Book Fair Tarma 2017 to present her book Tatuajes and hold a Haiku workshop. In 2019 she was selected to participate in the 2nd Nikkei Art Fair, PERU GAMBARIMASHO where she showed various merchandising created from her poems. He is currently working on the physical publication of his second collection of poems PLAYLIST POÉTICO available on Spotify, a book in collaboration with various Peruvian musicians such as No Recommendable and Leonel Bravo.

POPPIES

I have planted
poppies
in the seat
of your afternoons,
your inconstant memory
and the calls alargoplazo
expecting
if anything
spring is here.
I have filed my eyelashes
In the newspaper
what they name you
missing,
leaving
fall
the
ink
which spells tu nombre.
I have saved the fireflies
on the balcony of your room
in case they squeeze
your steps
on a desolate night.
I have hung up my boots
and I have left
to analyze
the labyrinth
that you once formed
between me
forests.

*This poem is the intellectual property of Kazuko Kikushima (2022)

© 2022 Kazuko Kikushima

Kazuko Kikushima literature Peru poetry
About this series

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column is a space for the Nikkei community to share stories through diverse writings on culture, history, and personal experience. The column will feature a wide variety of poetic form and subject matter with themes that include history, roots, identity; history—past into the present; food as ritual, celebration, and legacy; ritual and assumptions of tradition; place, location, and community; and love.

We’ve invited author, performer, and poet traci kato-kiriyama to curate this monthly poetry column, where we will publish one to two poets on the third Thursday of each month—from senior or young writers new to poetry, to published authors from around the country. We hope to uncover a web of voices linked through myriad differences and connected experience.

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About the Authors

Kazuko Kikushima is a psychologist and communicator. His greatest references in poetry are Jose Watanabe (Trujillo, Peru) and Gustavo Pereira (Punta de Piedras, Venezuela). In July 2017 he published his first collection of poems TATTOOS . In October of that same year she was invited to participate in the 4th Poetry Caravan Festival in Lima, and in November she was invited to participate in the II International Book Fair Tarma 2017 to present her book Tatuajes and hold a Haiku workshop. In 2019 she was selected to participate in the 2nd Nikkei Art Fair, PERU GAMBARIMASHO where she showed various merchandising created from her poems. He is currently working on the physical publication of his second collection of poems PLAYLIST POÉTICO available on Spotify, a book in collaboration with various Peruvian musicians such as No Recommendable and Leonel Bravo.

Last updated June 2022


traci kato-kiriyama is a performer, actor, writer, author, educator, and art+community organizer who splits the time and space in her body feeling grounded in gratitude, inspired by audacity, and thoroughly insane—oft times all at once. She’s passionately invested in a number of projects that include Pull Project (PULL: Tales of Obsession); Generations Of War; The (title-ever-evolving) Nikkei Network for Gender and Sexual Positivity; Kizuna; Budokan of LA; and is the Director/Co-Founder of Tuesday Night Project and Co-Curator of its flagship “Tuesday Night Cafe.” She’s working on a second book of writing/poetry attuned to survival, slated for publication next year by Writ Large Press.

Updated August 2013

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