Pretense and Innocence

August 31, 2012

Pretense and Innocence

Lipstick, cherry blossoms, premium wine
Sweet smiles, crimson kisses, cruel to be kind
Heartbreak in high heels, posh and refined
Perfume and cigarettes, clouding your mind

Black lace, pouting lips, too good to be true?
Laughing eyes, trace her form, feel like a fool
Queen of hearts, teasing quips, toying with you
Passion games, cruel to win, but better to lose

Politics, pursing lips, wasting your life
Find yourself, turn around, madness is rife
Pretense, common sense, true bliss is blind
Heart and soul, conscience, make up your mind

Spin a compass, which way do you choose?
Drive to Kiyomizu, late night for two
Short skirts and malcontents, what can you do?
Buy a ring, make a wish, try to be true

Perfume, crimson kisses, how can you lose?
Queen of hearts, teasing quips, fooling with you
Innocence, any sense, true love is blind
Heart or soul, conscience, make up your mind

Pretense and innocence, nothing is new
Either way you turn, love’ll cut you in two

...

虚勢と純真

口紅、桜、上等なワイン
甘い微笑み、紅い口づけ、優しい残酷
ハイヒールの失恋、優雅で洗練
香水と煙草、頭を曇らせる

黒いレース、尖らせた唇、出来すぎた話
笑う瞳、体をなぞる、馬鹿を見る
ハートの女王、からかいの言葉、弄ばれて
情熱の駆け引き、勝てば残酷、負ける方がまし

政治、すぼめた唇、人生を浪費する
自分を探せ、振り返れ、狂気が蔓延る
虚勢、常識、幸福は盲目
心と魂、良心よ、決めろ

羅針盤を回せ、どちらへ行く？
清水まで車を飛ばす、夜更けの二人
ミニスカートと不平不満、どうしようもない
指輪を買って、願いをかけて、誠実になろうとする

香水、紅い口づけ、負けるはずがない
ハートの女王、からかいの言葉、弄ばれている
純真、理性、真実の愛は盲目
心か魂か、良心よ、決めろ

虚勢と純真、目新しいものは何もない
どちらへ向いても、愛は君を引き裂く

...

— Dean Bowman

About the Work

Author's Note: This poem was written during a time of reflecting on intimacy's paradoxes—the tension between image and substance, gesture and intent. And, of course, a certain lady. It plays with theatricality: lipstick and high heels, crimson kisses and perfume, all symbols that conceal as much as they reveal. I wanted the rhythm to feel compulsive, like chasing something already slipping away, the way young romances bloom and wither in almost the same moment.

Inspiration: The setting was Kyoto, late spring (平成4年). I remembered a night—part real, part composite—a date that moved from Kiyomizu to Arashiyama to Kawaramachi, and then... The experience shimmered with beauty and dissonance. That atmosphere of romance and ruin, pleasure and pain—choices left unmade that haunted me until it found form in this piece.

Process: This was a departure from my usual short-form, free-verse poetry. The poem emerged almost whole, then underwent extensive structural and line edits as I searched for words that could create their own rhythm and beat. I wanted the language to walk the line between elegance and ache, with rhythms and rhymes circling back on themselves to suggest emotional repetition—choices remade and relived. It also had to be true to lived experience while also being abstract. Though the voice is stylized, something deeply personal runs through it. The poem knows what it's playing with and who it's protecting.