Keisuke (AKA Mrs. Miyagi)

She was the Queen of
“Do this for no reason…

...except…

I said so.”

Moved to Philly to live her life as
the reason.

She was the original answer.
Years before that
she was the New York of Philly sports.

The one
who always came before them
with random tasks

that were never random,
nor linear.

A sensei.

Their first live action kung-fu flick.
Their first coat off the floor.
Their first lawn mowed
and raked.

Their first trash
taken.

Their first driveway
shoveled.

Their first tooth
brushed.

Their first room
painted.

Their first shower
bathed.

Their baby bodies
waxed on
and off.

An inheritance

like their record collection
on Saturday mornings

and other heirlooms.

Three sons
who never understood
how piano lessons,
youth choir and

required reading of poems
would ever help them become

warriors,
Samurai,
or even seventeen.

And it never did,
But it made them
become poets,
parents

and thirty-three.

They became sequels,
threequels,
an unbreakable series of genes.

With no clue as to how they survived
or how she saved them.

© Hakim Bellamy, April 11th, 2020

1. Mr. Miyagi is a fictional Okinawan karate master played by Japanese American actor Noriyuki “Pat” Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) in The Karate Kid franchise. As written in Japanese characters in The Karate Kid Part II, his name is 宮城成義, which is translated as Nariyoshi Miyagi in the Cobra Kai television series. However, he is called Keisuke Miyagi at the start of The Next Karate Kid, his last physical appearance on screen.

2. The name Keisuke means Save and is of Japanese origin. Keisuke is a name that's been used by parents who are considering baby names for boys.

3. Sensei, Sinsang, (Sonsaeng/Seonsaeng equivalent in Korean) or (Xiansheng (先生) is an honorific term shared in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese honorifics that is translated as "person born before another" or "one who comes before". In general usage, it is used, with proper form, after a person's name and means "teacher."

4. Black folk and Kung-Fu flicks go way back. “We utilize our tongues against guns.” - GZA (Wu-Tang Clan) | Josh Toussaint-Strauss, The Guardian (October 31st, 2019)