Onnagata, the Art of Female Impersonation

The masks embody a denial
of all specific human qualities
whereby
it is possible for them
to express a vast range of human emotions.
The stranger fans her scent to me.
I move my forearm as close as possible
to the shared armrest.
Clearly, a man's thick wrinkles
behind the small white mask of the heroine,
and his oversized hands
floating from her sleeves.
Sonority muffled behind the wooden mouth;
without lifting his feet, he turns
around.

reconceived
Between us the axis is
as a means of access.