Japanese Divorce Party
They smash the rings with a mallet,
set off in separate cars.
Ritual of asunder–
nothing left but crushed metal.
Speech! Speech!
You may now leave the bride.
I thought the Japanese women
so delicate, language a subtle
arrangement of flowers, words
they would not dare to say.
A life like the garden of
Giverny, shimmery blue-greens
and glistening shadows. Tilt
of a parasol, hidden smile.
As 250,000 couples a year split
some way or another in Japan,
why not this crash of cymbals,
clear and unequivocal goodbye?
—Janet McCann, College Station, TX
