Zappai no Myrna: A Love in Poems (Poker Face card #1)
I am participating in this year's Poker Face event, and this is my first submission (of five). The cards in left my hand are "1,000 words or less," "Biography," "100 words or less," and "Blog/Facebook." This card is "Poem."
Background: Old Adam Shankel and the love of his life, Myrna, were friends from early childhood and spent many years together. Old Adam was a published poet in his youth; he wrote mostly aesthetic poetry, but picked up a taste for zappai that never really left him. Where other men might write notes or drop off an unexpected bouquet of flowers, Old Adam wrote zappai. Here is a selection.
Zappai no Myrna: A Love in Poems
I like her smile and
We play together lots.
She is my best friend.
~age 5
I did not mean to
Knock you off your bicycle
Can we still be friends?
~age 10
Jade eyes sparkle bright.
Chestnut hair blows in the wind.
I fall forever.
~age 15
He glitters in sun.
With his sullen brooding angst,
I cannot compete
~age 20
My wife, my helpmeet,
My lover, my dearest friend,
My darling, my own.
~age 25
Sleep deprivation,
Potty training, spit-up cloths...
Why did we have kids?
~age 30
Myrna is zaftig
Full-figured, voluptuous
Statuesque, sexy.
~age 35
She leaves for college.
It seems like just yesterday
We heard her first wail.
~age 40
Are not aliens
A better midlife crisis
Than other women?
~age 45
Today, your daughter
Became a mother herself.
One would never guess.
~age 50
I am happiest
Watching your peaceful slumber.
(Even if you snore.)
~age 55
Silvered the chestnut,
But never dimmed the jade.
Always beautiful.
~age 60
Our nest is cozy
With children, grands, each other.
Who says it's empty?
~age 65
Do you think I care
If we must go more slowly?
We go together.
~age 70
Today, your birthday.
No cake, gifts, flowers, party.
I miss you always.
~age 75
Notes
For those who don't know (ie, just about everybody) zappai is a form of Japanese poem with the same structure as a haiku: one five syllable-line, one seven-syllable line, and another five-syllable line. However, technically, haiku are written about nature or the seasons, and they usually incorporate a "change" word or a "cut" word. Since none of Old Adam's poems contain either, they are more properly called "zappai" -- and since Old Adam is quite proper, that is what I have called them. Japanese has no plural form of words, so the plural of zappai is zappai.
I don't actually speak any Japanese, but I think that "Zappai no Myrna" means "Myrna's Zappai" -- that's what I meant, anyway.
Zaftig (ZOFF-tig) is a Yiddish word that is used to describe a woman who is big, confident, and sexy. It literally means "fat," but it has none of the negative connotations of the English word.