The flat land where Rikuzentakata City once stood.
Influenced by a past project at THINK Global School I decided to write a “Where I’m From” poem about Rikuzentakata, Japan.
I was honored to lead a documentary team of ninth and tenth grade students to the northern Tohoku region to investigate the post-tsunami rebuilding efforts. On our final day I had the time to sit and collate the stories we had heard and experiences that were shared with us. I wrote this poem in the style of Steve Kluger’s writing in Last Days of Summer, to tell the very real story of the current citizens of Rikuzentakata, their efforts in the three years since the tsunami, and the hope that they have for their future.
Ippon-Matsu stands reconstructed as a symbol for the people of Rikuzentakata of the reconstruction that is to come.
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