Japan In Peacetime

Japan in Peacetime
--for J.K.

I
A samurai warrior loves
a little girl with little ears
and invincible black hair.
He’s usually in danger of himself,
but she pays his debts
by twirling her ears at fairs
or at the city gates.
Young dandies offer her ryo.
Ruffians threaten to cut-off
her income. The samurai
spends his days drinking plum wine.
It’s all he can do, that
and dice people neatly.
While he awaits her, ghosts
with pale masks and sheets
make him miserable.
He can’t kill them.
They swill his wine. He’d weep
but it’s not the bushido way.


II

After work, she arrives tired,
shoos the ghosts out the door,
loosens her obi and grabs a beer.
When dinner is finished
they play a board game,
he massages her ears.
Eventually they entwine and sleep.
From a corner, through a tear
in the paper wall, a mouse enters.
He’s come for tidbits
of rice and to practice
with the samurai’s swords.
His hands are delicate, pink.
He baths them in milk.
When he grabs the ornate handle
and lunges, all is at his mercy:
even the samurai’s sleepy heart,
even the girl’s invincible hair.
Cherry blossoms are afraid to fall
in the vicinity of the mouse.
They hold it in
until he’s finished,
then fall and fall.
It’s a scream.



(Image above is a C-print titled "It's only love give it away" by Wolfgang Tillmans).

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