Gordy with Duke in San Francisco 1979. Photo by Bob Hsiang.
I now know it’s all the same thing, love and music. Or the poem, flower arrangement or any other pursuit. It’s about connecting with all that went before you, in all their trials and tribulations, everything. And love is a part of that, your connecting with that person you love. Maybe your friend, your mother, your partner for life. It might get complicated if you are trying to connect with the past, while at the same time trying to connect with that individual, who in turn may also be connecting with the musical or theatrical greats who went before him or her. But, hey, it’s all the same thing. It is how you live and how you choose to connect. And it is definitely a lifelong effort. Worth every second. Filling you with joy and meaning about having known those special connections, and that special person. So do not mourn. Just rejoice. Keep playing, writing, creating and loving.
The Poetry Challenge 2026 has now become a weekly. And so here goes. The first theme for the group is “Water.” More themes follow by the week below:
WATER
by Yuri Kageyama
You’re instructed to do less
Be invisible
Although no one is watching
You’re a threat just by being you
So be quiet and be still
Pretend you don’t exist
Don’t even breathe too hard
People can tell you can play
By just hearing a note
People can tell you can write
By just reading one line
And who needs that from you
When you aren’t even there
James McBride wrote “The Color of Water”
But you are neither white nor black
So you just aren’t there; OK?
And already totally forgotten
Midnight
by Yuri Kageyama
A sliver
Of a crack
Dividing
Tomorrow
From
Today
Slip through
A free fall
The other Side
Invisible
What Death
Feels like
Long lost lovers
Wait for you
That’s why
Midnight
Has that eerie feel
The moment
When eternity
Hits
A whisper
A breath
A nothing
BIRD SONG
by Yuri Kageyama
Plum blossoms warble
A flutter of green
Nightingales tell us spring is here
Gliding reflections
Elegance of white
Swans remind us of Tchaikovsky
Caught in a cage
Silent fluff of yellow
The Canary who’s forgotten to sing
SHAPE I’M IN
by Yuri Kageyama
Being not white
You get racism
Being a woman
You get sexism
You’d think with time
Race, gender maybe
Will matter less
Well well well
No no no
Being old
You get agism
And that’s together
With all you got before
LIES
by Yuri Kageyama
You are beautiful
People call them lies
I’m so in love with you
Those promises for forever
You are the only one
But some lies are allowed
In sickness or in health
They become truth in love
Till death doth us part
MISTAKE
by Yuri Kageyama
Waiting for Godot
Ice cream
Rock ‘n’ roll
A good night’s sleep
Waking up after that
Soft sunlight through the window
Michelangelo
A joke that makes everyone laugh
Pink lipstick
Pink roses
Pink bubble gum
A gorgeous sunset
Winning but knowing it’s OK to lose
Losing but knowing you might win next
Landing a job
Getting paid
Going out to dinner
Going out dancing
Burritos
Birthdays
The smell of evergreen
A fireplace
A walk on the beach
Holding hands
The John Coltrane Quartet
Jimi Hendrix
This is a list of things I love
Have loved
Will love forever
Remember
No mistake
Our baby’s first cry
Our baby now a man
Pride and joy
Peace on earth
The caress of your kiss
DREAMTIME
by Yuri Kageyama
it is OK
to idealize
he is now
an angel
or
at least that’s
what they say
he never laid eyes on another
he always brought home the pay check
he never broke anything
and he never snored
it is OK to believe
all those things
and think he was, will be
perfect
a link to the poem as a song below, courtesy Isaku (I changed the second-to-the-last line to match the musical version _ and because I like the new line better):
Walk On
by Yuri Kageyama
Dionne Warwick sang “walk on by”
About someone who said goodbye
Paul Griffin plays piano on that track
Do you remember or care to look back?
He recorded with hundreds of musicians
Bob Dylan, the Isley Brothers, Van Morrison
We must keep going and walk on
Not passing and forgetting, walk on
Dark Side
by Yuri Kageyama
Smart people say
William Blake believed
Good and evil are
Side by side
But I heard different
Like a child
Pure and clear
That voice:
“Mommy I love you”
Heart and mind and flesh
For all eternity
That is
Good
The side
To know and stay
Blessed are we all
For those memories of good
Even those we no longer
Really remember
But I know
For sure
We do
Get
To
Choose
To live by good
And die by good
And not walk over
To the dark side
Which is somewhere else
And we don’t have to be all that smart
To be different
From that other side,
Twisted and gnarled
Hateful of others’ joys,
Just hissing and snarling
First Contact
by Yuri Kageyama
You sent me pink flowers
It’s been a year since he died
A whole year
“Sending big hugs your way”
You wrote in a message
I hear a happier voice
Than some time ago
When you said
“I can’t give you grandchildren”
Though I replied quickly, firmly
“You don’t have to give me grandchildren”
I will try to remember that happier voice
Like when we went to hear Jharis Yokley
Rhythms resonate in a tiny Tokyo hall
It doesn’t matter
We can’t remember what we said
The first time we met
WEARY
by Yuri Kageyama
I’m never tired of remembering you
When I vacuum and pick up your sheet music
When the silly things you saved fall off the shelves
When my heart aches each day you aren’t here
I’ll never tire of loving you
Even if you aren’t here to hug or cuddle
We have memories like when our son was born
How we took turns till he happily dozed off to sleep
I just know you are still here
Watching to make sure I don’t fall or cry too much
Today’s ikebana was fun because my teacher Mr. Okada, a man of many talents who can do backflips, allowed me to come up with own ideas. In the assignment, the yellow flowers were supposed to be the main elements, but I wanted to make the sweet peas the main elements, in the same way that the sidekick may steal the show from the lead actor. I also made the ivy into a circle. The link to my last ikebana with the link that leads to more previous ikebana links.
the online invite we got, courtesy Simon Scott, who read his found poem at the workshop
Kita Kamakura Writers’ Workshop
Delighted I got invited to take part in the Kita Kamakura Writers’ Workshop March 21, 2026. I climbed a lot of beautiful green hills (giving my legs an enormous workout) to get to the home of Duncan Whom (aka D Whom, a performance artist, filmmaker and dancer), filled with bottles of perfume because his partner, Neil Chapman, is a scent specialist. We also got taken on another walk around the area, uphill much of the way, to finally see a lake, which had been hidden. Although not articulated, it was part of the workshop to do all this obviously, to feel through our muscles that nothing comes without work. As a reward, we got very nice food, including couscous I hadn’t had in a while, but was marvelous with salad with cheese, and wine.
Last but not least, I got to read my essay, “Why Butterfly Should Stop Committing Literary Harakiri,” published in “Bigotry on Broadway,” Baraka Books, 2021. I hadn’t looked at that piece in a while, and of course never shared it. I have finally come to terms with what I have written, feel and want to tell the world _ everyone _ and our legacy. Racism is wrong, no matter what. But the fight can be meaningful, creative, even redemptive. I was filled with gratitude toward the hosts, the other writers who were there and shared their work, as well as to Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank, who put together the book, in which my work was published. And to the world of artists in general.
The poem as sung by Miho Ryu with music arranged and performed by Toshiyuki Turner Tanahashi.
Love Simply
To be near hurts
To be far hurts, too
Love simply hurts
To live hurts
To die hurts
Love simply hurts
Watching you die
Hurts even more
Love simply hurts
To know you hurts
To have known you hurts
Love simply hurts
But to not know you,
Not hurt for you
Is simply not a choice
Love simply hurts
Love simply hurts
Love simply hurts
「愛はただ痛い」
a poem by Yuri Kageyama translated into Japanese by Ryu Miho
近くにいるのもまた辛い
遠くにいるのもまた辛い
愛はただ痛い
生きるのもまた辛い
死ぬのもまた辛い
愛はただ痛い
あなたが死ぬのを見るのは
もっと辛い
愛はただ痛い
あなたを知るのもまた辛い
あなたを知っていたのもまた辛い
愛はただ痛い
でも、あなたを知らないのは
あなたのために傷つかないのは
ただ選択できない
愛はただ痛い
愛はただ痛い
愛はただ痛い
A rendition by Teru Kawabata with his singing and guitar. August 2025.
This poem, now lyrics to a song, was written in 2023. It is still developing, but I feel it has come full circle. It still makes me cry. My love is still so very real and, I know, eternal, which means the pain will never go away. It is overwhelming and frightening. But I now know many people feel this way. It is a feeling that comes only with someone you truly love. The wonderful thing is that I was able to show him my poem. He just said, “I feel loved.” The look he had on his face was like a child, totally fulfilled and happy. And what else is a poem meant to do?
I read “Love Simply” with music by Jackson on drums and Teru singing and playing guitar of the music he wrote at an open-mic in Tokyo Oct. 5, 2025. Thanks for having us and being such a fun crowd.
I read my poem “Love Simply” with Teruyuki Kawabata on guitar and Osaki Haniya, fellow poet and co-writer of “Continuously Poetry,” at Bar Gari Gari in Ikenoue, Tokyo, Sept. 19, 2025. Thanks to the Drunk Poets for having us.
Besides the Book Party, I also earlier read “Love Simply” with Teru at Infinity Books, on Oct. 11, 2025. Before I read, I told the people at the jam session that the poem was about my partner of more than 40 years, who died in April. I don’t think I ever said that in public about my poem. I also told them that I showed him the poem before he died, and he told me he felt loved. You know how you feel a bit drained, depressed even, after reading your work. But one young man who was there to jam told me he liked my poem, then said: “Your husband is one helluva lucky man.” That made it all worth it. And I thanked him.
People say things have little meaning, and it’s just the person or the emotions that the thing reminds you of that have meaning. Sometimes they are one and the same thing because if you have something for more than 40 years, that certainly means something, and that thing has a meaning of its own. People leave, taking off from this world and going somewhere very far. But the thing stays. And it continues to tell us what that person means. Because that person never really leaves. He is always here, just like, or even more than, that thing. This is the fourth in a series that follows this third piece, which has a link that connects to the previous pieces. After this are three more: “Love Simply” and “What Do You Think?” as well as “Your Music.” And I get the feeling there will be more because that feeling never dies.
