LOVE 13 Poem by Mitsuharu Kaneko

The woman had never had it done to her before.
The man, just like a brand-new teacher
conducting a chemical experiment at the podium,
doesn't seem certain of his hands, even after many tries.

He holds her hand gently,
caresses it, then holds it against his cheek,
guides it, unobtrusively,
down to his pants to make her touch it.

Then, he manages to do
many more silly things,
but this is neither because he is unlikeable
nor because she is indecent.

He covers her face with a handkerchief (1)
and, to calm himself,
lights a cigarette, has a drag,
then deliberately unhooks her.

He feigns astonishment at every turn,
and says, in a dumbly excited voice,
"So this is what you call a navel!"
Darn, you know you have one, too.