TOMODACHI Generation: Caitlin McDermott

Caitlin McDermott is from Washington, DC and participated in the TOMODACHI U.S.-Japan Youth Exchange Program in 2015. She created and recited a poem about the resilience of Tohoku at the TOMODACHI reception, “Remembering 3.11–Five Years Later.”

 

 

 

 

STORY TELLERS
A Poem Written and Presented by Caitlin McDermott

Let me tell you a story
Of rebuilding what’s been lost
Of connecting and creating
Let me tell you of 3/11
But not what you’ve heard

TV Screens and news articles
I’m sure you’ve heard the facts
About 15,890 people dead 2589 missing
Over 22 million tons of damage
The Great East Japan Earthquake is the definition of a tragedy.

But you see,
There are more to these places then debris and death
These cities,
Ishinomaki, Minamisanriku, Sendai

Are hometowns
Sea views and sunsets
The towns are more than meets the eye

We often forget,
As the media controls our minds,
That disaster zones were not always that

People lived here, shared fond memories,
These towns aren’t broken just a little bent
The world can be rebuilt, in fact it’s already started

What the media doesn’t show you is the dedication of these people
When given lemons they made the entire city lemonade
When given hurdles to jump they lifted each other over

These cities are being rebuilt because these people are strong enough to move mountains. Hand in hand and heart by heart

They work together to create the balance to stand strong

You see,
This world is built upon balance.
Good and bad, yin and yang,
You need one to see the other.
There is a fine line between rebuilding, creating and upgrading,
And coexisting with nature, caring for the world we live in.
There is a fine line between security and playing it safe,
Between seeing an issue and fixing it,
And these people have discovered it in the darkest of times,
And more importantly they are creating a generation to fix it.

It is hard to say whether these disasters are the fault of nature or mankind,
Who to blame for the lost lives, lost hope,
But you see we cannot blame anyone or anything
Because looking too far into the past keeps us from seeing the future.

So here we stand before you,
A new generation
And promise to rebuild while keeping your history,
To build castles when all you were given was dirt,
To hold your hand but not let you forget that it is your own,
To lend you wings while yours heal.

We stand before you and promise,
The world isn’t destroyed
The balance is not damaged, And these towns aren’t broken.

The world will never be black and white,
No issue is clear as day,
But we stand before you and promise,
With dedication, drive, and passion
We will fight to make the future of Tohoku a brighter one.

So let us tell you a story,
For it is only the beginning.