Pleasure Quarter

A photo-inspired poem

Kita-Shinagawa, Tokyo, 1966.

Dear readers, a few days ago I posted a story related to the photo you see above. My dear friend, writer and zine-maker Margaret River then accepted the challenge of writing a poem about the photo. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed it.

If you like poetry and pop culture-infused witticisms, be sure to check out her Substack.

A serving woman walks
as if still recognised.
Eyes cast low,
her lips rest sour—
marionette lines long past performing.

Once, eyes watched her,
heads tilted discreetly.
Now she moves
with thinning visibility.

Still, there are traces—
in the lift of her nose,
in the discipline of her shoulders,
long after the world stopped asking for them.

The streets fold around her
like oshibori,
holding her story warm:

Nights of light—
lanterns, conversation,
a sequence of gestures,
repeated,
then forgotten.

A tree grows twisted
outside the gentlemen’s discretion.
Its leaves catch the afternoon sun
that carpets the path with shadows,
stretching her form over
a younger woman’s territory.

And yet,
there’s a need to keep moving
beneath the red light
that glows for another.

Watashi no tabi wa tsuzuku*


- Margaret River ©


*My journey continues