"One concept essential to an understanding of ko-uta is that of iroke. One of those frustratingly untranslatable terms, iroke is written with two characters, ( )( ), one meaning 'color' (iro), the other 'feeling,' (ke or ki). Iro in this case most closely approximates the meaning of 'eroticism'--but in a milder sense than the English word conveys. Ke means something along the lines of 'character' or 'spirit.'
   ...Iroke is sensuality; it is evoked by images which appeal to the senses. It denotes attraction felt between the sexes in the passing of a glance or the swish of a trailing kimono. The essence of iroke is understatement. The minute it becomes obvious it ceases to be iroke. It is a subtle atmosphere created by the contact of two people. It cannot exist in the abstract, and it is not as blatant as 'sex appeal.' It implies intimacy in that it becomes lost in an impersonal situation.
   Some examples of iroke are: the tiny glimpse of red which lines the geisha's formal black kimono, seen against the white of the powdered nape of her neck; the sidelong glance, exchanged without a word, between a man and woman; playing the shamisen with the fingernail instead of the large ivory plectrum; the four-and-a-half-mat tatami room (yoyohan) which is just big enough for two people and a small table; the kotatsu, or quilt-covered table under which feet may be talking while faces above show no sign; one strand of hair loose in an otherwise perfect coiffure."

--Liza Dalby, Littl* Songs of th* G*isha (2000)


For a poetics of iroke (my red). A chapbook is intimacy, a singular strand dangling... Play it with your nails and not a pick.


3conomic Hit Man.


Global Warming Witch Hunt.


"...Duncan & Spicer behaved more like Godzilla & Mothra."


Khalid is out.