Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Janice Mirikitani’s "Generations of Women: 2. Nissei" is a poignant and harrowing continuation of her exploration of generational trauma, this time centering on the Nissei—the second generation of Japanese Americans. The poem intricately weaves themes of loss, identity, resilience, and the gendered burden of cultural and societal oppression. Through visceral imagery and a deeply empathetic tone, Mirikitani captures the layered struggles of a Nissei woman whose life has been shaped by systemic injustice, personal abandonment, and the haunting legacy of internment.

The poem begins with a stark image of a woman’s body, likened to a “mantis,” with “arms long, thin.” This fragile, almost insect-like description conveys both her physical frailty and her metaphorical entrapment, as she is “imprisoned by walls of cloth.” These walls represent both the material constraints of her environment and the intangible boundaries of expectation, tradition, and historical circumstance. Her identity is reduced to the fabric she wears and the labor she performs, as “the man clocks [her] moments,” reducing her worth to her domestic contributions and submissiveness.

The repeated motif of waiting—“I wait. / I wait for his presence”—highlights the passivity imposed upon her, a life lived in suspension, dictated by the actions and desires of men. Her flesh, likened to “sheets drying in the wind,” evokes a sense of impermanence and vulnerability. The act of “weaving chains of flowers” becomes a poignant metaphor for her attempts to find meaning, beauty, and agency in a life marked by deprivation and sorrow. These floral chains are not merely decorative; they carry the weight of mourning and loss, coloring her existence with both beauty and grief.

Mirikitani delves into the generational trauma of internment, evoking memories of “desert camps and barracks,” where lives were uprooted and identities stripped. The separation of families—“men leaving to separate camps or wars”—further compounds the sense of loss and abandonment. The imagery of women left behind—“walled white” houses filled with “fast-drinking, quick-joking women with red lipstick”—underscores the alienation and betrayal experienced by Nissei women, whose sacrifices were often overshadowed or dismissed.

The woman’s arms, “chained by wringing and worry and barbed wire,” symbolize the dual oppression of societal expectations and historical injustices. The barbed wire, a stark reminder of internment camps, slashes not only her youth but her sense of agency, reducing her to a “woman-child,” trapped between the roles of obedient daughter and self-determined individual. The haunting phrase “Some losses can’t be counted” recurs, underscoring the immeasurable toll of these experiences—abandonments, humiliations, and unfulfilled dreams that leave lasting scars.

Mirikitani’s depiction of gendered oppression is particularly striking. The speaker recounts the societal preference for male children: “No more women, they prayed, a son. / A son to carry on the name.” This longing for sons diminishes the value of daughters, relegating women to roles of servitude and sacrifice. The Nissei woman’s life is marked by an acute awareness of her disposability, compounded by personal betrayals, as she is abandoned “for the red-lipped woman.” Her body becomes a “room helpless to the exit of men,” encapsulating the vulnerability and objectification she endures.

The poem’s closing image of the woman “damp, wringing,” standing between “desert camps and bedrooms,” captures the liminal space she occupies, trapped between historical trauma and personal sorrow. The “chains of flowers weighted with tears” evoke both the fragility and resilience of her spirit, as she carries the burden of her pain while trying to create beauty and meaning in the face of despair.

Mirikitani’s language is deeply evocative, blending tactile imagery with symbolic resonance. The references to fabric—muslin, mildewed cloth, flannel—reflect the domestic and physical constraints imposed on the woman, while the recurring imagery of flowers and desert sands underscores the tension between resilience and desolation. The poem’s tone is both mournful and reverent, honoring the strength of the Nissei woman while laying bare the injustices that shaped her life.

“Generations of Women: 2. Nissei” is a deeply moving exploration of the intersection of race, gender, and historical trauma. Through the lens of one woman’s experiences, Mirikitani illuminates the broader struggles of a generation caught between cultural expectations and systemic oppression. The poem is both a tribute to the resilience of Nissei women and a critique of the structures that sought to confine and diminish them. It invites readers to reflect on the enduring impact of these histories and the quiet, often unacknowledged strength of those who lived through them.

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