TOPAZ
by Mari Hashimoto


Spending three years in Topaz
is a deceptive statement
Much to the sound of a Club Med vacation
its a calculated/ malignant
kind of resort
Named after a beautiful and rich mineral
of deep yellow ochre
It became a tumor that weighed --- heavy
in our bellies --- and spun out
Far too many spores
For many of us to stomach

But Topaz grew from seedling to bead to marble to rock
into a relocation plot
And it was just during this geological growth spurt that my father---
a boy of not yet 13--- entered innocently
into his next developmental phase of teenage-incarceration---

Three years in Topaz


He said to me once,
“We were like horses forced into crates.”
And my elementary-school mind saw--- minotaurs
flared snouts engorged, forcing air into lungs
not willing to collapse, gasping through small breaks in these wooden crates
And I further saw---
defiant wild steeds howling “NO!!! NO!!!”
while some of us wept and some of us warred
to prove their valor, hoping--- their horse hooves
would knock down these barricaded walls
would stop the tracking
would stop the exhaustive racing
But now, they want to erase---
But these track marks remain---
Our angered/ pulvarized veins pulse
Scar tissue and muscles rippling

May we stomp out with each gallop these amberized tumors ----
Topaz
And have instead, gold dust
flicker up onto our skin
illuminating our spirits and resolve
To always remember
To always remember to fight for justice
To always remember to fight for justice for each other.



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Updated: 4/22/04