WHAT EVERY SAMURAI WANTS

he rides tired through the narrow forest path
in winter snow in
expectation of
something to come home to
something better than a title
better than a slave, a diamond

a woman, better than a whore
someone who can see the blood
and listen to the murder

nurse the wounds and kiss
the gash to heal — if not,

then cry
as he shuts his eyes

Japan, 2005

***

WHAT EVERY PLUM-BLOSSOM WANTS

back and forth
the fan keeps turning
watching me as i
try to not think
about a fan.

—betsu-betsu?–

her body vibrates with perfume
like a plum-blossom
eager for earth.

Japan, 2005

***

these days it’s hard
to imagine another
these days.
now black magic
flutters from
the top floor.

that salamander with the rainbow body
do you think it
is trying to outdo
the deer?

why talk of fairness —
the buck turns around
and doesn’t notice as he crushes
the last heartbeat of
that rainbow salamander…

Japan, 2005

***

although we could not find the way
the deer just kept on
being still

although we could not stop the rain
i don’t think our hearts
were soaked

although we got angry and
i called you proud
we
remain…

although i cannot kill a thing
the mosquitos keep
on biting

Japan, 2005

***

i wouldn’t keep on saying it
if it didn’t
keep on being true.

Japan, 2005

***

where is the sun rising
when we put down our rifles
and change our underwear
for the last time?

where is the moon going
when we drop our presumptions
and let the mountains
raise themselves from the mist?

Japan, 2005

***

this kind of thing
is happening all over the world
— he says
and he does not turn away
from the bright computer screen.

Japan, 2005

***

when it was the time when
me, myself, had concepts
that were in a state of change
then after that, at that time,
i could become able to see
genuine articles.

As for the one who is called me
he is a genuine article
quite free from muddled concepts

(after the cryptic Engrish on the cover of the Japan-bought notebook I wrote this poem in, which reads:

When I changed concept, I could see
genuine articles. A reliable brand selected
by those with good taste.)

Japan, 2005

***

you have the choice
to say yes or no
to girls walking with their
knees together

Japan, 2005

***

no one to hear
your breath as it reverberates
inside yr. skull, no one to hear
your heart as it flashes in and
out of yr. chest, no rest
no one to hear it spark up at night
and connect with all the nerves, not now
not even,
this bed this moment
no waist for soft reflection
–no woman.

Japan, 2005

***

she and i were distantly bound
shooting up separate directions
face to face with reflections

discussing whether or not
the improbability was there
that all sentient
beings had a kind of
seedling
nested somewhere half-covered

primordial,
placid,
reflective,
visibly apprehensible in some facet
of substance and vision

bound for somewhere
without location

elevator stops and fades.

THE ELEVATOR?

Japan, 2005