The Japanese Wife

The Japanese Wife by Charles Bukowski is a comparison between Japanese women and American women. The American woman has been "derailed" whereas the Japanese woman "have not forgotten . . . closing the wounds men have made"

American women "care less than a dime", as opposed to the Japanese Wife who was wronged by her husband, but eventually forgave him, with no lawyers needed (like American women would need).

The end has some great imagery,

"nothing but little Japanese prints on the wall,

all those tiny people sitting by red rivers

with flying green birds,

and I took them down and put them face down

in a drawer with my shirts,

and it was the first time I realized

that she was dead, even though I buried her; "

These are powerful lines that show the sentimental view that the speaker feels about this woman.

However he hasn't gotten over her death yet, he says

" some day I’ll take them all out again, . . . but not right now, / not just yet"

I am still confused about this line

"said, you can wrong me now,

and I did,"

I'm not sure what it means