Lotus Lady

I remember....
Cherry blossoms strewn about the park,
withered on the loins of the lover's swing where we once sat.
Old women in spent kimonos rushing,
their open sandals clutched with jaded toes,
heels click-clacking on the dew dappled stones
down the narrow, naked alleys past the blood drained neon -
pale in its desire, angered with the early morning sun.


I remember....
Love on a staircase, your small, silent movements,
my sailor's hat cocked jaunty above your brow,
the smell of noodles frying from the kitchen above.
And after, a Kirin for me, an Asahi for you.
No conversation, across the room - the disapproving scowl,
the flash of an earring as you smile and turn away,
Papa-San going - then us - never to return.

I remember....
The glow of a cigarette lighting your cheek,
sudden light from the window across your breasts
as I rise slowly from the limp, twisted sheets
and am drawn with a kind of sadistic compulsion
to gaze through the open window at the harbor
and another lady, old and gray...calling me home.
I remember...........I wonder......do you?

Ernest Tubb....

When the warship left Manila headin' out across the sea
All the sailors hearts were filled with fond regret
Looking backward to the islands where they spent such happy hours
Making love to every pretty girl they've met
(When up stepped a little sailor with his bright eyes all aglow
Saying take a look at my girl's photograph)
Then the sailors gathered round him just to look upon her face
And he said I love my Filipino baby
She's my Filipino baby she's my treasure and my pet
Her teeth are bright and pearly and her hair is black as jet
Oh her lips are sweet as honey and her heart is true I know
And she's my darling little Filipino baby
In a little rustic cottage in the far off Phillipines dwells a lonely little maiden all alone
(She is thinking of her true love though he's far across the sea
And her heart beats true for him and him alone)
Then one day he whispered darling I've come back from Caroline
I've come back to claim the only girl I love
And that night there was a wedding while the ships crew gathered round
And he wed his little Filipino baby
And she's my little Filipino baby...

havocrit
A touching reflection. You paint a good nostalgiac picture. I got to visit Tokyo again. Never saw it from the sailor's view. I used to go on business. But I appreciate the return trip. Thank you for sharing this.
Steve

Oh and if a Kirin and Asahi were drunk in the same house wouldn't that be a conflict of another sort?

Seems like I vaguely remember hearing the Ernest Tubb song long ago (I'm certainly old enough to have heard it . Thanks for sending it along......havocrit

steevo - I was in Japan for 3 years in the late sixties and loved the people, the culture, the food and the women, well, actually just one woman. I am sure it is much changed. I hadn't thought about the conflict of the Kirin/Asahi. In addition, I could never decide which I liked best. People see so many things that one never considers. That's what is so nice about poetry - thanks for the feedback..........havocrit

havocrit,

Thanks for the taste of your adjectivals thoughout.

Nice job,

Peter

havocrit:

Perfect capture of time, scene, and emotion in this nostalgic piece. I share much of the sentiment you express so well here, albeit my experiences took place some 2500 miles west in Nakon Phanom Thailand during the same era. The scenery may have been different (there weren't any dew-dappled stones amid the water buffalo and bicycle traffic clogging NKP's dusty roads) but the beauty of the culture and the people - one person especially - left an indelible impression on a young Air Force sergeant 12,000 miles from home. Well done.

Joe

thank you joe

I appreciate the feedback. I wrote this some time ago and have often wondered if it was a worthwhile effort only to myself. I knew there were surely thousands of others with a similar experience amid that terrible time but was not sure if it would strike the right chord with them as well as me. Thanks for confirming that thought for me.............havocrit

Thanks havocrit, you drew me in to this place in a very short amount of time. Since reading this for the first time,I have found myself thinking about a place and culture I have not thought much about before.

Aaron

Ernie Tubb ag'in

I stepped a shore in Tokyo feeling kinda blue
For I was trying to forget a love that was untrue
When by my side I found a lad his dark eyes all aglow
He looked at me so hopefully and said is your name Joe
For Joe's my daddy's name and he will soon come sailing cross the see
He said he'd come back by and by and Joe would never lie
The warship took my dad away and mommy needs him so
And every night I hear her pray dear God where is my Joe

[ steel ]
Somewhere back home a guy named Joe is prob'ly sipping beer
Does he know how important he could be if he was here
Has he forgot this little lad who needs his daddy so
A promise made a debt unpaid they're waitin' for you Joe
Yes Joe's his daddy's name and he will never sail across that sea
A stranger in a foreign land he let his heart get out of hand
The warship took his dad away and he's too young to know
That off across the ocean there's a million guys named Joe