From "The Secret Life Of The Geisha" Poem by Roger Gerald Hicks

we learn the difference
between Gee-sha and Gay-sha
is less than sublime.

Im-properly pronounced Gee-sha
is a Japanese B-girl or prostitute
while properly pronounced Gay-sha

is a Japanese courtesan
in the Greek sense.
Today

The thriving Gee-sha
number in the hundreds
of thousands while

in Tokyo, less than one-hundred Gay-sha
ply their trade.
To train a Gay-sha

costs as much as a carrier pilot
or three doctors,
and she practices every day, life long

dance, grace, charm, and topics of the day.
Gay-sha dress to the teeth
in bright, embroidered kimonos

whose colors reflect the seasons.
Groups of men pay up to $500 an hour
to mingle with a Gay-sha
and the wives feel no resentment,
because Gay-sha relaxes the spirit
invigorates the male persona.

Conversely, the Gee-sha relaxes the groin.
The Gay-sha, like all art,
requires sophistication to be appreciated;

but the Gee-sha, like the government's
new base metal coin
appeals to the multitudes.

A similitude of the original-
thriving on the original's reputation-
dominates the market place.