1940, 1970 and Today – plus other poems - 1. Nineteen he is

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Poem No. 1

Kei

Nineteen he is. And young in what it mean to be a

nineteen-year-old Japanese boy. He eats prolifically,

laughs profoundly, finds mirrors in objects that reflect.

But his eyes sparkle beyond a culture or an age. In that

immensity does this indefinite sorrow live as only we can feel it

move beneath our own eyes. That flow of passion that can

produce for nature so little, but has made for mankind

nearly all its worth.

I on one line, he to another, by the divide must

we part. On the steps to go did he look at me, and then

I understood a sorrow too great to ever know. That

Connection made, the parting grew ever more impossible.

Nineteen and beautiful in his youth, he said a truth to me.

Poem No. 2 ^[1]

A Valentine for Kei

Sonnet:

I think of the poverty here encrypt,

Sighing for those who could love you better,

Then I give vicious thought to bolder script,

Which though slow, still has ways to unfetter.

Last night in my arms, my eyes beheld you –

Lashed down as you were by the charms of day –

But at least my hands knew just what to do

As conniving morning sought you away.

Asleep always nearer the ground’s pyre,

I invoke the love that never is gone

With the sun of men; His phoenix-fire

Burns in the turtle’s eyes, doomlessly on.

Yet, as the morning bids you not to stay,

The night shall bring you back;

Then these eyes, my heart and hands won’t defray

The passions that I lack!

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[1] “A Valentine for Kei” This poem’s mention of a phoenix and turtle alludes to what is reputed to be Shakespeare’s final love poem for Mr. W. H. – the onlie recipient of the 154 W. H. Sonnets, published in 1609, in the poet's lifetime. Here is an extract from the conclusion of The Phoenix and Turtle:

Beauty, truth, and rarity,

Grace in all simplicity,

Here enclosed in cinders lie.

Death is now the phoenix’ nest;

And the turtle’s loyal breast

To eternity doth rest.

(quoted from William Shakespeare: The Complete Works [Arthur Henry Bullen, Editor] (Stratford-upon-Avon 1904), p. 1252)

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