The poet as witness

The Poetry of Yorifumi Yaguchi: A Japanese Voice in English Wilbur J. Birky, ed. Good Books, 2006.

At the Mennonite/s Writing conference held at Bluffton (Ohio) University in October, I attended a session highlighting the work of Yorifumi Yaguchi. This modest, aging poet had come all the way from Japan to read his words to us. He was introduced by Wilbur J. Birky, editor of this recent compilation of Yaguchi’s poems, written over a long career, during which he became, besides a poet, a professor, a staunch pacifist, and a Mennonite pastor.

I found it strangely ironic that the “peace theme” one expects at a gathering of Mennonites – Swiss and Russian – was delivered most strongly through the words of a Japanese Mennonite who, we were told, is often invited to read at the meetings of secular anti-war activists in Japan.

Yaguchi, who as a schoolboy witnessed the ravages of WWII and heard the Emperor’s “crackling radio voice” announce the defeat of Japan, grew up with his father’s nationalism and his grandfather’s Zen Buddhism. The influence of the latter is evident when the poet chooses simple but evocative imagery to describe conversion: “A Hand/ Reaching from the other world/ Pours tea into my cup,” and “a word like an ax/ . . . pierced/ my unprepared heart.” These, and Yaguchi’s lyrical nature poems, demonstrate the art of paying attention.

In the more narrative poems, killing, rape, and other terrors of war are seen through the eyes of a child and remembered by the adult. With obvious irony the poet recalls an American Christian pastor who “interceded for blessings” on the success of the Hiroshima mission, while Japanese school children “leap[ed] with joy” when they heard of atrocities committed by their soldiers. In these poems the message sometimes takes precedence over poetic craft.

Yaguchi read the poem “Jesus Did Not Come Down” in both English and Japanese at the conference. This credo of nonresistance in the face of evil is elsewhere reiterated: “It is the Christ, the Prince of Peace/ whom I continue to follow/ who was killed but did not kill.”

These poems from Japan deserve a prominent place on the Mennonite bookshelf.

Sarah Klassen is a Canadian Mennonite poet, whose most recent collection is A Curious Beatitude. She is a member of River East MB Church, Winnipeg.