In my dreams, I am Japan
-----------------------------------------

In my dreams, I am Japan --
I resonate with bamboo flutes
and the water sounds of frogs

silk-draped ladies walk my paths
between hurried salarymen
and five-year-old samurai
shouting at dragons

my streets are lined with
modernist cement-block buildings
rubbing the worn shoulders
of sheltered tea houses
in the gardens of emperors

I am Japan, drawn with a fine brush
more delicate than centuries
of temple incense smoke
that curl around me as I wake
behind this painted screen

	-acm (10/97)