“Love Letter to Masako”
You are like candy in my mouth.
The sweet breath of Spring
is in your mouth.
From earthly shell to earthly shell,
what lies between such earthly bed.
Is it the moon, the stars?
Is it one’s favorite dream?
Is it heaven
right in our hearts?
From earthly shell to earthly shell,
what lives, what breathes?
Is it eternal?
Is love eternal?
The sweet cry of youth…
Is it for this that man is born?
Then stay; wander not.
Heaven’s bliss I fain would pluck.
Wait, don’t go.
Come back and stay.
Lie with me in my earthly bed.
Eternity can wind its way.
The heavens may burst and
Hell let loose.
But I, in my enchantment rest
and sleep contented,
till time, too, rests.
Elmer Tazuma of Seattle (whose parents owned Tazuma Ten-Cent Store at 12th Avenue and Jackson Street before World War II) authored this poem to his wife in 1949. The first stanza was used in Northwest Prime Time’s February/March 2010 Poetry Corner.
SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).
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