Cathedral
We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration

31 Letters and 13 Dreams

Each letter is written from a specific place that Hugo has made his own (a “triggering town,” as he has called it elsewhere) to a friend, a fellow poet, an old love.

We read over the poet’s shoulder as the town triggers the imagination, the friendship is re-opened, the poet’s selfhood is explored and illuminated.

The “dreams” turn up unexpectedly (as dreams do) among the letters; their haunting images give further depth to the poet’s exploration.

Are we overhearing them?

Who is the “you” that dreams?

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