1940, 1970 and Today – plus other poems - 5. Arrival at 9:30

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Poem No. 10

For Shakespeare’s metre do we all sigh;

to believe like fact he’ll but ride the wave

beyond us all, and W. H. will not die

as long as lips can move him out of his grave.

Poem No. 11

Here we sit today at summer’s end,

On the advantageous side of despair.

Poem No. 12 ^[4]

Arrival at 9:30

Haibun:

Nothing happened till 12:15 when Etchan wanted to get cigarettes. Instead we found a Tunisian guy who invited us to his birthday party, which was the following day. Also, she started talking to the French guy who was leaving, and who had sat in front and to the left of us. On the right side was some nice looking guy, but endowed with the personality of an ass-aperture. He was with a Japanese guy (at whom he blew smoke, in his eyes). I talked to him finally when he sat next to me. His name is Hiko (a nickname) from Kyoto, who sometimes comes to Tokyo for a getaway, and was staying with the asshole. I guess Hiko likes him; if he let his eyes guide his choice, I would agree, but what a vain and worthless soul the object of his ardor has. What a shame for any affection the Japanese boy expends on him.

I don’t want to forget his eyes

the way he held his lover’s hand

his shoeless socks, his shining face

the smile that it became for me.

I don’t want to forget his eyes

or the way he abashed when

I whispered how lovely

To me I think they are.

His hand drew me near

a gentle pull on my thigh,

four hands held together,

sweet looks passed,

and I with concern

saw how sad a moment

two-yet-one can share . . .

But as it passed, so

might this. Yet,

I don’t want to forget his eyes.

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[4] “Arrival at 9:30” The events captured in this poem are related to those portrayed in my first novel The Round People.

Also related to the fictionalized environment captured in the novel is a collection of love poetry. It was written for a boy I met in the real-life setting which inspired the book. He was a Japanese guy, only a couple years younger than I, and whom everyone knew as Jimmy. We met while he was bartending at this ‘gaijin bar’ – which means a weekday watering hole for locals and a weekend-destination dance club. It catered to international residents of the city and those Japanese folks who wished to socialize with them. This club, named De-Ja-Vu, was in my neighborhood of Tokyo. Jimmy and I became friends, and although straight, I came out to him. A mutual friend of ours had already revealed my feelings for the handsome young man, and this revelation seemed to only make us closer.

The Round People may be found in its entirety here:

https://gayauthors.org/story/ac-benus/theroundpeople-anovel/

Sweetest Grief to Hold, the collection of love poetry for Jimmy, may be found in the book titled After Days of Rain and other poems: from my twenty-third year:

https://gayauthors.org/story/ac-benus/after-days-of-rain-and-other-poems/

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