Yakuza

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BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Yakuza

#1 Post by BobBradshaw » 18 Aug 2021, 09:45

Yakuza


My boss trails me down a long hall
as if he were a prison guard.

It's OK. Across town my girl
leans on a cafe's counter
dreaming of me.

I enter the board room
and apologize
as if I were a small shopkeeper
facing late payments
to the Yakuza.

I absolve my manager
of blame.
As I back out of the meeting.
my manager claps his hand
on my shoulder.

"This is a black mark
on your review."

Tonight I'm meeting Sheri,
by the canal.
As she leans into me,
her hair a garden
of perfumes and herbs,

the world of work
will become a corrupt country
whose borders
I have never crossed.

Lovers, Sheri will try me on
again and again,
as happy as a bride
trying on dresses.

FranktheFrank
Posts: 1983
Joined: 02 Mar 2016, 18:07
Location: Between the mountains and the sea

Re: Yakuza

#2 Post by FranktheFrank » 18 Aug 2021, 13:12

Enjoyed, Bob, good bosses are hard to find.
My best boss ever was incompetent, inept and had an aversion
to p.m.'s soberness. When the bad times came I became the
sacrificial lamb. That's how it works.

I think you captured the corporate world well.
Could you clarify it is Sherri across town
leaning on a counter waiting for N.

Would 'be' substitute better for 'become'?

Like:

'Work will be a corrupt world whose
border I don't cross on eventide.'

I like the title Yakuza.

'Yakuza (Japanese: ヤクザ, IPA: [jaꜜkɯza]), also known as gokudō (極道, "the extreme path", IPA: [gokɯꜜdoː]), are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media by request of the police, calls them bōryokudan (暴力団, "violent groups", IPA: [boːɾʲokɯꜜdaɴ]), while the yakuza call themselves ninkyō dantai (任侠団体/仁侠団体, "chivalrous organizations", IPA: [ɲiŋkʲoː dantai]). The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization. The yakuza are known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature and several unconventional ritual practices such as yubitsume or amputation of the left little finger. Members are often described as males, wearing "sharp suits" with heavily tattooed bodies and slicked hair. This group is still regarded as being among "the most sophisticated and wealthiest criminal organizations".'

I hope you have retained most of your fingers, Bob.
Humorous.

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: Yakuza

#3 Post by BobBradshaw » 18 Aug 2021, 20:07

lol...thanks, Frank. I have all my fingers! And I appreciate the comments.

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