Jan Ken Po-ems at the Topaz Exhibit

We want your thoughts and responses to the artwork created by artists, no longer alive, who visually recorded their lives behind a barbed-wire fence.

Come to the Rio Gallery tonight and throughout the Topaz exhibit's run (through February 10) and add your words. Begin with one of the pieces of paper provided at the front of the gallery. Each paper has three words written on it. Your words can come before one of the words or after. You may cross one out and add another to the list. You choose. If you wish, just begin with a blank piece of paper and write a Jan Ken Po-em.

In Japan, Shinto temples and, often, trees and bushes are places where individuals may leave a paper prayer. In our version, your poem may be a poem, a wish, a dream or a prayer.

Please post on the wall and read the thoughts others have left before you.