I started life by hating Japs,
Those leering bastards in cartoons.
When A-bombs forced the war’s collapse,
I felt it served them right, the goons.
At seven years of age, I thought,
The peeling skin is what they bought.
Now nearly seven decades since,
Atomic meltdown poses threat.
Tsunami photos make me wince.
So too, the earthquake toll, and yet
What fills me most with dread within:
Seen in a new light, peeling skin.
A thousand bodies washed ashore,
But gamma rays from power plants
Could kill who knows how many more
Than those who didn’t have a chance
When homes and offices collapsed,
And slid and rolled. A stunned world gasped.
The former brat feels even worse.
In Tokyo, for three grand years
In middle age, in full reverse,
Still at Narita, switching gears,
Head over heels, he fell in love
For reasons that he’s joyous of.
He cherished most things Japanese.
Although they distrust foreigners
They proffer all the courtesies
Allowed to fellow Nipponers.
They neither cheat nor rob nor steal.
It’s ingrained in their commonweal.
No one on Earth should have to die
Like cosmically afflicted ants.
More so, I feel, a land where I
Learned what years later still enchants:
The social bond like in Japan.
They’ll cope if any people can.
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