Tales from ..
Tales of my working life in Japan 曽達
Tales from a Boysan
Japan Japan Hostess Bar
So excited! To be employed here
Russians coming
Is everything ready
Is the Dancepole sturdy?
Two dancers Topless
Two hostesses
Manager tall and thin
Checking every little thing
Ferrari ashtrays
Cushions comfychair sofa
ShouchuwhiskeybrandySoda
Snacks in a dish
What's this one? dried fish
Once before he was manager
In a Hostess bar in Osaka 大阪
One day gathering courage
Took a chance with honesty
Ran off with a sum of money
Caught him in Hokkaido
Dragged him back to work once more
Russians are here! Two at first
Blonde and brunette dancing girls
Dancepole Steady?
She struts on Stage
She is all the Rage!
I have introduced her in Russian tones
Through parted curtain like a peephole
Russians are here! Two more
Hostesses, slightly younger
They drink hot Coke
But life is not all bliss
Put up with drunken Idiots
Cannot leave should that be sought
Owner holds each girl's passport
The Platter's are coming! Prepare a platter
One singer is the descendant of an original singer
Is everything ready?
All set for a soulful event
Uh-oh flyers not sent
Call my friends said don't stay home
Called all friends in my mobile phone
Japan Japan Hostess Club
Such joy to work in a girly pub
Surrounded with GIRLS!
Catering for everyone
Girls here under twenty-one
Light cigarettes Make pleasing chatter
Laugh and smile and possibly
arrange a business matter
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tales from the Trench
Plumbing construction in Japan
5metres deep 五メートル
It's cold out Warmer down
here
Cold small balls of snow
None down here
The warmth of the Earth
Out of the Cold
Juki driver is an ace, looking easy
Hardly a need to shovel
Fast safe accurate strict
lean on my shovel
Thrown a track?
Retracks it it's like a trick
Seven metres underground
7メートルだぞ
Lowered a small juki down
To dig the remainder
A small juki down
The Large one did not reach
Jobs like these, some firms
go under
Darker complexion Hair on the Frizz
Definitely gang material
Yodasan
Distinctly gang material
Company trip plane arrives
Disallowed entry to Guam
Three abreast in a Hino
Two tonne dump truck
No belts, that's OK
Excellent Dump Truck
Over the crest Police! Reach
for belts in unison
He sweeps arms wide Safe
Daytrip 1 job done and back
Leakage in Pipe
DOwn Down down
Where is the pipe?
Didn't find it till Dark
Eleven thirty got back to Town
Sunday dig cul de sac
Line up laser
Foreman climbs out of manhole
Believe in Laser
Half trench dug Boss arrives frowns
Climbing out must have kicked it with his boottoe
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tales from the Classroom
So excited were we we were
Meeting our Supervisors
Our shidoushuji 指導主事 Teaching Supervisor
Eating zarusoba in a traditional restaurant
I heard one say
I am moving House and have
many belonging
Oh dear Do you have enough room? I have five rooms
Arrived at work punctual not late Today is teacher meeting day Was met at the Entrance 玄関
and told You have no business here today
I could write correctly your signs for Open School
Yes but most would not understand them though thankyou
Riding to school Ah what
a thrill but this road gets steeper and it is getting Steeper STILL
Finally arrive atop a Hill
Dripping and Soaking in SWEAT thru and through
Class commencing imminently Gather my
breath and say Good Morning Class How are you today?
Mountain village mountain school
Green green Trees thick growth I have been lodged in Hotel Rifure where refreshing and rejuvenation is on order this day
Matsutake on the menu tonight delicious mountain Delicacy I do believe it is in
each dish I am most Pleased!
Met at the Station short
drive to school But why has she stopped in the centre of the intersection?
Oh no she glances my way coyly and smiles And I decided that on my next School Visit that I would mount a bicycle
Surprised it only took an Hour
These memories I Cherish
sweet memories of faces
Laughter friends children
Snow Rain Mountains
tanbo 田んぼ rice paddy 畑 vegetable patches Flowers cicada tombo 蜻蛉 dragonflies
kabutomushi 甲虫 rhinoceros beetle
Japan japan beautiful enigmatic Japan
Tales from the street Matsumoto
曽達 松本
Keep in front of the Sweeper
Cans Wire Large Obstructions
Get them out of Here!
Keep in front of the sweeper
Anything that is in the way
How bout this? No that's ok
Curves on a country road
Cleaning up rubbish Filling a load
Curves on a country road
Are gathering points for leaves and debris
He learnt this over time
you see
Down to the Border
Checking each curve and corner
Down to the Border
We should check our workload, Agree?
Yes, perhaps stop at the border for a coffee
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tales from the 加工場
Kakouba
What do think you're doing?
Selling oil?
It means slacking off
taking things easy
Dandori Dandori!
Preparation get things in Order
Strict they are Will give you
a smile a nod, a konnichiwa
but when work is on,
Business is the order of the Day!
Yard foreman looks at his
watch
10 AM
Not knowing I am still craning bars
Purses his lips as though to kiss and looks my way
Not a kiss but a cigarette it is
that time of Day
It's SMOKO
Three breaktimes, smoko lunch midafternoon, then home at five
Cover the STEEL
SHUT the gate
Bye to the Boss
See you again tomorrow
The pain the Pain!
Tsuufuu
Painwind they call it otherwise known as Gout
Pain if the wind blows across
Pain if even it slightly touches some cloth
Went to the doctor who looked me up and down and said
Make a note of this Nurse, I believe, our patient has Goat
He proceeded to ask where I felt the most pain
Drew a cross with a biro and injected me right there and then
New Year Celebration Good Cheer
Gantan
White paper hanging cut into strips
We are weeding the Steelyard
Foreman asks why the dandelions? they are Crying
Humid day and unlike the men at the Genba 現場 we are treated to watermelon or ice
Time to go home and spend days with family
Temple at midnight then
明けましておめでとうございます❗
Akemashiteomedetougozaimasu❗
About this poem
Tales of my working life in Japan
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Submitted by pearcemelville on January 05, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 5:58 min read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | a a bcdEefg hdxiejj kixeelm xneooxp mkxxxxq kkErrxx ssnttkek xa xuclcxx epxpvx x ukuwxk fpapxx lxyxwtx vzuzxu vkpkxe x kxkxyxdx xyp1 xpp1 xy pyhx qtpk jgt2 fpa L K2 cKyY 3 3 3 exe kkkee is dpxebk1 xxy 4 xxxy4 ydxpxxl 5 ixxxxx5 6 xaxedxe6 f |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 6,442 |
Words | 1,184 |
Stanzas | 36 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 1, 2, 7, 6, 8, 6, 7, 6, 6, 1, 1, 8, 4, 6, 4, 4, 7, 2, 6, 6, 5, 1, 2, 10, 13, 9, 10 |
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"Tales from .." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/117137/tales-from-..>.
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