This Too:
Why I Do Things
...such as posting twice in the same hour
Apocalyptic Fuji
An entire post of semi-creative writing (see below) is likely to be unpopular with those of you back home who wonder what my life is like here. Sorry about that. I think I've explained this before: that isolated moments convey much more meaning to me than the sum of this trip as a whole. That being said, I'm going to post some more Japan-oriented creative writing now. I guess I'm feeling bold.
This is a poem I recovered about a month after I got here. I wrote this last Summer, when most of my life was spent wondering about my future life in Japan. Anyway it was interesting to read while I'm here, back in Japan. I had forgotten about it completely. Maybe you'll find it interesting but probably you wont.
Fuji-Sama in Fog
a poem
Today, of all days, I stood alone
and ate a bar of chocolate.
I drank a bottle of water
scrubbed the sweat from my forehead
on today of all days.
The air was cool, thick.
I sat rocking on a train for hours
waiting to see it. See it's sprawl.
God-King. Emperor.
Waited a lifetime to see it
to see it today.
I Stepped from the train
tipped back my hat
and looked straight up into heaven.
Mount Fuji was covered in fog.
blanketed
It was hidden from my grasping view
I could see none of it.
Not it's shape, not it's base
no matter how far I walked.
If I walked forever, my whole life, still
I could only see twelve feet through the fog.
So I sat on a bench
and bought a bottle of water
and a bar of chocolate
and ate it in silence.
Looked at the fog all day.
Thought of pictures of the mountain,
God-King. Emperor.
rubbed my eyes until my vision was blurred.
Mount Fuji was covered in fog.
I sat until
the water smelled sweet,
and cut the richness of the chocolate.
Sat until my body thanked me
for sitting just to sit.
I sat until I remembered that on the train
I met a withered man
hunched with hands shaking.
He looked at me and smiled.
He must have been a thousand years old,
content just to sit on a train
worshiping nothing. He waited for nothing
and breathed in richness
wherever he found could find it.
-cwa
...such as posting twice in the same hour
Apocalyptic FujiAn entire post of semi-creative writing (see below) is likely to be unpopular with those of you back home who wonder what my life is like here. Sorry about that. I think I've explained this before: that isolated moments convey much more meaning to me than the sum of this trip as a whole. That being said, I'm going to post some more Japan-oriented creative writing now. I guess I'm feeling bold.
This is a poem I recovered about a month after I got here. I wrote this last Summer, when most of my life was spent wondering about my future life in Japan. Anyway it was interesting to read while I'm here, back in Japan. I had forgotten about it completely. Maybe you'll find it interesting but probably you wont.
Fuji-Sama in Fog
a poem
Today, of all days, I stood alone
and ate a bar of chocolate.
I drank a bottle of water
scrubbed the sweat from my forehead
on today of all days.
The air was cool, thick.
I sat rocking on a train for hours
waiting to see it. See it's sprawl.
God-King. Emperor.
Waited a lifetime to see it
to see it today.
I Stepped from the train
tipped back my hat
and looked straight up into heaven.
Mount Fuji was covered in fog.
blanketed
It was hidden from my grasping view
I could see none of it.
Not it's shape, not it's base
no matter how far I walked.
If I walked forever, my whole life, still
I could only see twelve feet through the fog.
So I sat on a bench
and bought a bottle of water
and a bar of chocolate
and ate it in silence.
Looked at the fog all day.
Thought of pictures of the mountain,
God-King. Emperor.
rubbed my eyes until my vision was blurred.
Mount Fuji was covered in fog.
I sat until
the water smelled sweet,
and cut the richness of the chocolate.
Sat until my body thanked me
for sitting just to sit.
I sat until I remembered that on the train
I met a withered man
hunched with hands shaking.
He looked at me and smiled.
He must have been a thousand years old,
content just to sit on a train
worshiping nothing. He waited for nothing
and breathed in richness
wherever he found could find it.
-cwa
posted by Corey Waite Arnold at
11:01 PM
2 Comments:
I can't reiterate how much I like this poem - the contentment in disappointment, the acceptance, even the raw detail. Nice work. I wish more of our friends would post stuff like this.
PS I have a new blog, you should check it out. I'll put a link to your blog on my page, you should link up mine.
Hey, I am Samuel Arnett's mom. He has your link on his page. I really enjoyed reading your writings. It tells me more about life in Japan than Sam's do. Sam writes about inside his head. A nice place to visit, but scary. ;^)
Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences. It is as if I was there for a few seconds.
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