MIEKOSAN'S WEDDING
All bowing,
All smiling,
All sweetly
Murmuring.
The wig helmet of black cornsilk
Festooned with cherry blossoms and bangles.
The clown white face
Depthless in joy and fear.
The intricate brocade shield
Of the varicolored kimono.
The wide correct sash
And anchor of the obi.
The feet like snow
Inside the festive gata.
Tea as green and fertile
As a surfeit pond.
All things false and beautiful
And the gifts like omens.
This poem won honorable mention in a South Florida Poetry Institute contest and was first published in its publication the same year. It was subsequently published in City Magic, 1987.
When my family lived in Japan, we lived quite well. We had a townhouse in American Village in Nagoya. We had a pet dog named Silky. I went to first grade in the village school. We also had a Japanese maid named Miekosan, who was probably just a teenager.
Poor Miekosan had to deal with two rambunctious American children (my older sister and me). I sometimes made her cry. When I did, she would sit on the bottom of the stairs with her head in her hands. Then I would go over and hug her and kiss her and apologize. I developed a crush on her (my first), so I was shocked when mother told me that Miekosan was leaving our service because she was getting married. For the first time, I felt jealousy. Who is the guy she is leaving me for? I thought.
At the wedding, she looked gorgeous in the traditional Japanese wedding kimono and accessories. Her husband was a handsome fellow, but I was skeptical--stemming from my childish jealousy--that he could make her happy . I never saw her again, so I don't know whether her new life made her happy or not.
When I was writing the poem, I was remembering the beauty of the ceremony, but my remembrance had been tempered by my knowledge of what life had been like for Japanese women, who still struggle for equality and independence, although the new generation seems to be making long strides.
Here are some interesting items about Japan:
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