Poems by Goro Takano

DOLL PLAY

This is a poem about the dolls neglected still now
in a tranquil corner of your old hometown house

You were a little child when your parents bought
them for you --- the first time you discovered two

headless naked ones in those fashion-model-like
men and women dolls, you didn’t feel discomfort

On that sunny day, you placed on a kitchen table
all the dolls, as usual, to play with them all alone

A long article in a newspaper left on a living-room
sofa was telling a new story about heavy casualties

in a distant foreign country’s civil war --- first, you
put all the fashion-model ones in an exact ring and

then set the two headless ones at the ring’s center
You weren’t aware of a fire rising from behind you

One of the headless dolls started punching the torso
of the other one bitterly, giving a loud cry: “I’ve lost

the most valuable person in my life because of you!
You didn’t help us enough, though you are a doctor!

If you hadn’t neglected the efforts of resuscitation!
I cannot live without --- ah, I’ll never pardon you!”

The rageful doll didn’t stop using violence at all on
its counterpart who repeated: “Your loved one died

before being carried over to my place --- too late for
revival!” --- “Resuscitation of the dead is a must for

this community,” the furious doll quickly responded,
“All doctors who can’t do it are the root of all evils!”

All the other dolls surrounding the two headless ones
and watching quietly their unsightly act were saying

to themselves in unison: “Constant observation and
self-restraint in intervention are our duties as well as

self-mockery of such shameful conduct” --- rubbing
your tired eyes, you lay by the dolls and fell asleep

On that cloudy day, you woke up and took a whim to
dust off all those old dolls after longtime negligence

your grown-up eyes watched each of their stiff poses
on the table with nostalgia --- more foreign countries

were suffering from tragic civil wars, while the fire
burning right behind you almost reached the ceiling

In the circle of the fashion models, yet again, one of
the two headless was beating the other who moaned:

“Why do my internal organs have to be used to save
this thug? --- only because this devil is my closest kin?

Why does my good heart have to be transplanted into
the numbered life of this wretch? --- my life has been

nothing but a mess due to this criminal --- I wish my
heart were rather grafted into a good stranger’s body”

Gasping with exhaustion, the beater halted the offense
and said: “Making the ultimate sacrifice for your kin is

your utmost duty in this community, didn’t you know?
You achieve no benefit without carrying out your duty!

Give me your inside, NOW!” --- all the fashion models
were already tired gazing at this row and speaking with

one another in whispers about plagues: “Infection from
the uncivilized to the civilized is terrifying for sure, but

infection vice versa is even more dreadful, rumor says”
While the violence continued in the ring, you got older

Now age wrinkles spread all over your deathbed face
It is raining today --- a radio informs at your bedside:

“Civil wars are everywhere around the globe, except
in this beautiful country --- only here on earth you can

enjoy peace” --- your childhood dolls assemble for you
after a long separation from one another --- one of them

speaks up: “The special ritual we are going to perform
from now is called ‘body-tossing’ --- it was introduced

here from an unknown distant country a long time ago
We celebrate through this rite our old members’ path of

virtue to longevity!” --- the withered bodies of the two
headless dolls are tossed by the other ones into the air

Holding each other’s hand even in the air, the two seem
to take delight in the entire ceremony, while, right under

them, one tosser after another cease tossing --- “Human
mind having no fear is the most horrible thing on earth,”

one of them mumbles --- the two fall onto the hard floor
and their limbs come apart when your eyes finally open

to notice the big fire reflected on a mirror set before you
What if the similar blaze is bursting here and there in this

country? --- civil war? --- you don’t have to be afraid yet
Can you find me? --- I’m still here --- behind the glowing

mirror --- lower the flame, wait for another few minutes,
and an excellent cuisine will be ready --- it will be tender

enough even for your surviving teeth to chew well, so no
worries --- once you finish this meal, I will give a good

clean to your whole body --- lastly, I must tell you this:
If you have one more chance to go back to your old home

you should search for the heads of the two headless dolls
They must be still somewhere --- and, as a matter of fact,

one of them is your head
and the other one is mine