BY ROBERT SHAFFER
Copyright is held by the author.
The Pagoda shaded us
as she pinned the
Rising Sun
to my shirt.
You are more than a comfort girl to me.
Careful, the Kempeitai is near
Stay hidden.
I am not afraid.
I can’t wait for you.
I promise I’ll return. I will salute the flag they offer.
My heart broke with the cannon fire that scattered the cherry blossoms.
***

Robert Shaffer is a retired educator who majored in Creative Writing a long time ago, was a counsellor in a prison, a former long-distance truck driver, and comments regularly to major newspapers on political, social and educational issues. When he’s not writing he stares at his bird feeders, listens to Spotify and wishes his neighbours would stop mowing their grass. He lives in Johnstown, PA., U.S.