An Oath To My Craft Poem by Suki Nakamura

o, i am a
geisha to you
and you miss
me,

i am saddened
by the death
of my expectations

i have not kept
what i value much

i am a wilting
chrysanthemum

i am chilled
by your winter

and i have seen
that spring is still that
far

soon i will fade
like a sunset

but i, geisha,
fine lady of the arts
makes this oath,

even in the other
world i shall keep on
carving the words

the air my chisel
my emptiness my canvass

my lips the sun
till the next life

my hair shall flow
like forever