Deru kugi wa utareru

Looking into the old files.

Written when I was young,

maybe forty-five or so.

Searching in vain for anything of my own

I can plagiarize, get something new started.

I even know just what I want to work on.

But too often my style,

can’t find the damn thing.

Organization is not my strong suit.

You are probably surprised.

***

But I did find this nugget…

The Japanese people have a saying,

Deru kugi wa utareru.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered.

Be the hammer.

Such youthful aggression.

***

These many years later,

guessing the Japanese have another saying.

Sooner or later we all get screwed.

And somewhere an old man

thinks to himself:

Be the screwdriver.

Lefty loosey, righty tightie.