The Dream of a Little Occupied Japan Doll (audio only)
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a golden shovel
The whale already taken got away: the moon alone
—Yosa Buson, translated by Hiroaki Sato
A bandana. A cardinal. An apple
No. 2 lead pencil—the mechanical pencil, now empty—appears more vivid
A box of toothpicks—now that I'm baking bran muffins
To see you is to smell
your wood and lead shavings
that spill from the gray
metal pencil sharpener
nailed to the window sill
in Mrs. Rote's classroom—
all these decades ago. Today,
my mechanical one, empty,