Carpe Diem, Eigo Sensei

when i was in japan
teaching english
i used to go out to this bar and
get drunk.
they loved me there
because i was the only one
who could speak english.
they tried.
one night
this drunk jap guy
was giving one of the bar girls
a hard time.
i was drunk enuf
that i used
every word of japanese
i knew
just to tell him
to back
off.

in japan,
they think americans
are crazy
and pull guns
at any excuse.
i could tell
he was afraid
of me
so i kinda pushed him
out the door.
i felt like
a big man.
the barmaid
felt so grateful
she took half an hour
with 3 or 4 of her girlfriends
pitching in
with the help of a dictionary
to invite me
home with her.
dici wanted to go
but couldn't.

a few nights later
i was available
and wanted that rain check
honored---
no dice.
she had been humiliated
in front of her friends
and the dictionary.
she informed me
in broken english
of all that
and sort of
pushed me out
the door.

* published 10.99 in the hold
an e-zine of contemporary writing