To be a Geisha
Is to give ones soul
Never to love
To never feel whole
At five I was sold to an okiya
Worked as a maid
Became slave
Was never to be paid
I started going to Geisha school
I learnt the art of shamisen and dance
Although this was no life
I soldiered through in a trance
Then I was to become a Maiko
I wore beautiful kimono
I wore white makeup
Yet I didn't care- I didn't want to know
Then my mizuage was sold
My virginity taken away
A man on top of me
I'll always remember how he made me lay
The day came when I became a Geisha
I knew the art
But I was trapped-
It was a life in which I could not part
To be a Geisha
Is to give ones soul
Never to love
To never feel whole
Author notes
okiya - geisha house
shamisen - instrument
maiko -the second stage of becoming a geisha
mizuage - when maiko's virginity is sold
Bubbaphysh
Picture 1: The Geisha
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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I am impressed with the research you have done for this poem. I always check structure when I comment. You have set your poem into a basic quatrain form with some well thought out rhyme. I like that. But if you were to write it paragraph form you would note that the poem is very prosaic. Some of it reads like prose. Minor punctuation comment. "Ones" should be "one's" possession. I am giving applause for the subject and the research.
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Beautiful flow and I like how you used the Japanese terms. It reminds me very much of Memoirs of a Gaesha.
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