Away

Caesar has buried so many men,

Someone has the numbers but no one is counting.

Caesar has the stadiums hanging by his thumb,

The sound over the hills jubilant with blood.

Food in his houses needs ten chefs,

Plus decimating stooges testing poison.

He has a man at all times by his side

To remind him he’s human and that’s called Respect.

Caesar has no time for a province like this.

We can smell the seaside thyme,

Minute by minute watch hens argue over pieces of straw.

Here there’s wine when we get past philosophy.

In the cool we go to the library or the rockpools,

Make love or get our tongue around exile.

Away (August)

The bathhouse is a multi-storeyed fact. You cannot wish it away. The bathhouse exists on services rendered. It’s not the same as changing schools. Still, you have to pass disguised through the gates. Like everything about the past, the bathhouse has its own rules. You cannot brush them away. Two bombs fell on Japan in August. You cannot wish them away. Greasy monsters come to clean away their shit. It’s only ever temporary. You survive by declining their gifts, No-Face and his fool’s gold. You will put away foolish things. You will learn your true name and name Illusion, now.

3 of 10: 'Spirited Away' by Hayao Miyazaki (2001)