Sushi and Poetry

You know that poem game? that writing game? the one where you pass a sheet of paper between people, each person contributing lines, folding over the sheet so the next person can only see the last few words of what they've written? :) here's something written at Kotobuki :)

on 10/27/2006

This light, this flush, this
skin touching. We are drawn
into this expanse of brilliant white; endless
hills and valleys of light reflected off of snow.
Luminous like the water's surface, the
drops of dew catching sunrays in the
morning. We fold ourselves into
indecipherable knots; walk about like living
hieroglyphs, unaware that the translation
is folded up in our pockets.
We all speak in tongues, catch rainwater
with our mouths open wide, hungry—
thirsty for grace, thirsty for everything
that follows in a great procession
of reds and golds, paper dragons and paint.
A human, humane, real
life touched with grace. This is ours.
Our faces bright with wonderment,
Children seeing the snow for the first time.
A collective sigh escapes from inside us,
welling from the base of our throats.
The lacquered sheen of the table, the light,
the calm…there is peace here.We dance; mostly. A waltz with
ambiguous partners, but we dance just the same.

--Stephen and Julia
Over dinner at Kotobuki
Sushi and iced water
Poems and time.