Monday, March 28
SUKIYAKI
Whenever I mean to say path, I end up
Saying pass or passed. I get pissed and forget
My past: apologizing for how I say shit
Whenever I mean to say sheet, writing shit on shit.
Yes I am sorry for how I ask for snakes
At mealtime whenever I mean snacks, and
Snake eater is a nickname for Green Berets
Trained to kill Asians in jungles
Before I was born. I met one in Missouri,
An ex-Special Force. Was it misery, or the way I said it?
As part of volunteer service for the local library
Funded by Robert A. Heinlein's money—
Author of Starship Troopers
And A Stranger in a Strange Land
(The town was his birthplace)—
I went every day to bring him books to read
And take the books he finished.
The old soldier's legs were long gone.
On his wall, framed Presidential Letters kept
Giving thanks. He spoke to me in Japanese
Picked up from shore leave singing Sukiyaki;
My English
was bad enough. I tried to sing with him
But didn't know how.
(Jack Jung)