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Aunt Sheila in Tokyo

January 4, 2018 John Grey

 

AUNT SHEILA IN TOKYO

Most unladylike,
she sits on the floor.
legs crossed,
nibbles on noodles
and what she later discovers
is seaweed.

Funny how it doesn’t seem to matter
that she eats the inedible
and it tastes fine.
What a country:
the colored lanterns and the rice fields,
geisha houses, kimonos,
communal baths and speeding trains,
and even the occasional plaque
remembering Hiroshima.
solemn but not angry.

And she likes to think
that if they ever dropped the bomb on her
she’d remember in a healing way.
with an illustration, with a poem,
brought to life
in a Japanese restaurant,
sitting on the floor,
more ladylike as hours wear on.
She respects a people
who can eat seaweed
with no care for where
it comes from.

Header Image by Hideya HAMANO

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About John Grey

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in Front Range Review, Studio One and Columbia Review with work upcoming in Naugatuck River Review, Abyss, Apex and Midwest Quarterly.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Japan, poetry

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