Upon The Unmarked Graves: Okinawa Prefecture Peace Memorial Museum Poem by Aida Santos

1

Here upon these black marble tablets
Folded like Japanese fans
Are the uninscribed names of those who died
`Comfort women, ’ in the name of wars and men.


Because you have no names
We put the flowers all over,
And prayed:
Please borrow our names, my name.
You could use it.
Whisper it to the wind,
And I will hear it.
Our names will be one,
Because we are sisters.


2

Thousands of stones
Travelled from Korea to Okinawa
To build this holy place
Of sisterhood, for humanity.


Here, in the round space for spirits
Unknown, we pay homage
To the memorial of thousands of Korean women,
Ten thousand strong.
Torn away from families,
In the name of wars and territories.
Milk upon their lips:
You had to be renamed
In the name of the colonizers
So they could call your names
When they needed your bodies.
You lost not only your innocence
But your names, your language, your identity.
So here, this morning, we come to you
To give you back all that you’ve lost.
We try to grasp the meaning of your sacrifices
Amidst the trees, the bushes, the flowers, the birds.
We don’t even know your names.
We only have the tortured faces in our hearts,
And the cries and shouts of despair
Echoing along the corridors of remembrances,
Echoing deep in the recesses of our hearts.


We can only give you our prayers,
In the many languages we have
In the many colors of our skin.
Gathered round your memories:
We can only share with you our identities.
The reality is, what you’ve lost,
We can never really give back.
So we cry, the tears trapped in our eyes.


But we hope, nameless faceless sisters,
That you feel the strength of our presence
The warmth of our loves
The prayers for peace
For your souls, for this world
Your memories will comfort our raging thoughts
Comfort women that you are.


I sit, listen to the whisper of summer breeze
I feel in my bones your lives
I wish you well, peace, wherever you are.
Amidst this stone memorial,
Our hearts will forever join your memories
I have my memories too of violence,
And these are connections
Beyond the memorial, beyond this visit.
Forever. Amen.