With pancake powdered faces white
Like full moons all aglow,
And budding ripe, red lips like bright
Spring cherries in the snow,
Like giant butterflies they light
On streets on Tokyo-
And those who see them stop and stare,
For Geisha girls today are rare.
A precious few of them remain
In modern day Japan,
The moon face girls are on the wane,
These teahouse courtesan,
They are endangered like the crane
That’s painted on their fan-
And those few left must really strive
To keep their ancient arts alive.
These precious pillow girls who pen
Fine Haikus and who dance,
Who strum the three-stringed samisen
Pour saki and romance
Grey-suit Osaka business men,
They just don’t stand a chance-
Their wooden clogs just can’t keep pace
With bullet trains and rats that race.
And these rare treasures from the past,
Whose bright kimono’s gleam
Is such a striking sharp contrast
To faces white like cream,
Their dying breed will never last,
They’ll fade just like a dream
Into harsh light of modern day
Lest we support them in some way.
SUPPORT THE GEISHA FOUNDATION
Teahouse Of The August Moon
Box 575, Kyoto, Japan
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