A Letter of the Floating World

I owe you an apology.  It's been far too long since I posted a poem.  Mea culpa.  Here we are examining knowledge and I have sorely neglected your need for close reading practice.  Fear not, noble knowers!  Here, via our old friend 3 Quarks Daily, is a powerful, subtle, and complicated verse for your perusal.  Please think and write about the effects of the point of view and voice(s), the allusive assumptions the author makes (research as needed), and of course the impacts of metaphor on you.  Conclude with a statement of meaning (authorial intent) for the poem.  Do this, please, for Monday 6 August and I will do the same from Michigan's Thumb.