Outside From the Inside, Anne Whitehouse
Outside From the Inside
By Anne Whitehouse
Outside From the Inside
(From Isamu Noguchi to Man Ray, Poston War Relocation Center, May 30, 1942)
Here, in the internment camp
in the Arizona desert
our preoccupations have shrunk
to a minimum—
the intense dry heat,
afternoon dust storms,
and the difficulty of feeding ourselves
on thirty-five cents a day.
Outside from the inside
it seems history has taken flight
and passes forever.
Here time has stopped and nothing
is of any consequence,
nothing of any value,
neither our time nor our skill.
But I must remind myself,
work is the conversation
I have with myself,
and space is supplied
by the imagination.
Here, there is the memory
of ancient places,
wind and sun, endlessness,
where I came from,
and where I will go.
Oh, for a mountain peak,
a glacier glistening in the sun.
Oh, for an orange,
Oh, for the sea.
Anne Whitehouse is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Meteor Shower (Dos Madres Press), as well as a novel, Fall Love.
Inquiry
The following has been provided by the poet:
The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum in Long Island City, Queen, just across the East River from Manhattan, was artist Isamu Noguchi’s (1904-1988) studio during the latter part of his life, and now it is a museum and garden featuring his sculpture and other work, such as his set designs for Martha Graham’s dances. Noguchi was born to a Japanese father and American mother. During World War II, he volunteered to be interned with other Japanese-Americans, thinking that he could teach them arts and crafts and help to make their experience more useful and bearable. He was sent to Poston War Relocation Center in the Arizona desert. Once there, he found the conditions so dire that he immediately regretted his decision, but it took some time to secure his release. On a visit to the Noguchi Museum in February 2018, I noticed in an exhibit case a letter from Noguchi to the photographer Man Ray written in 1942, while Noguchi was in the camp. “Outside from the inside” is Noguchi’s phrase. Noguchi’s letter developed into my poem.