The Emperor’s Process

I heard that the Emperor was forged

in the fires in Tokyo, March, 1945–

that he found his voice, somehow

amidst the screaming babbling horror

of that star-spangled holocaust–

I also heard

when he wanted to write

that he’d retreat to the mountains with pen and ink

and many jugs of cheap plum wine

and emerge days later having found The Hidden Fortress

If this second part is true

then it is very good news