Team Japan

Poetry

He was swinging by his neck
from a basketball hoop
When his father found him
lifeless,
never to be bullied again

The authorities publicly
apologized
(profusely, of course)
but privately
excused it
as part of
the cost of
living in harmony

Harmony as defined by
embracing sameness
denying differences
Rather than the harmony
of valuing diversity,
individuality a strength,
not a weakness
to be shamed

So…
he swung
from his neck
on a basketball hoop
lifeless legs
never again
to grace the ground

and so…
his father
fought back tears
with balled fists
for to show
such emotion
is weakness
even when
it’s as natural
as mourning
the suicide of
one’s only child