An Exercise in Embodiment

Aquamarine Kimono with Cherry Blossoms

Your anger is an aquamarine Japanese kimono

Striking in a sea of T-shirts and mini-skirts,

Embellished with the cherry blossoms

Of sharp words and stares of contempt,

Cinching you at the waist

But loose on the arms,

Making you free to throw jabs and stabs

Towards your most favorite of enemies.

Allow me to shut the door to the bustling outside.  

(The butterfly sleeves of your cumbersome kimono might snag on the old screen door.)

Unravel that constricting obi,

Let me gaze at what the silken robe hides from the world.

Ashamed, you quiver as I intently look

At your delicate elbows, the ridges on your breast bone, the crescent-shaped birthmark on your right arm.

Just this once, keep the kimono on the couch;

You look stunning without it. 

-01/11/06

photo credits: "One Day in Tokyo", photography by David Mushegain, styling by Julia von Boehm