今朝の落書き

When our eyes meet, you give me a smile
that kindness soothes me

When my eyes meet a little child's, I wink
from that puzzled, unguarded face
I receive a clear innocence

Like lightly clicking a shutter
like making a loose peace sign
I softly lift the corners of my mouth
gently close my eyelids and open them

Like a kiss jokingly blown by a friend
like a kiss I received on my cheek as a child
lightly, loosely
I curl the corners of my mouth with a little smile
flick my eyelids down and up

You could say
it is the sound of a bicycle bell ringing when someone calls to someone
from over there along a road back home, hey!

When I took a local train far to the east
and the carriage with no one else in it stopped
the green rice fields smiled softly beyond the open doors

All the invisible anxieties and weight
I was never meant to wear
never meant to carry
that I could throw away right now
truly, lightly disappear at that moment
with a gesture that leaves no time even to remember them

You're exaggerating
you will surely say

And that, too
will surely be good

Without saying anything, simply thinking so
lightly, loosely giving a wink
addressed to this very moment
I send a smile

Thank you for reading again today. Far more than any difficult discussion, what we first need in our everyday lives is the sort of smile we exchange along the way. The sort of kindness we send to anyone and everyone. A world that, when I call out gently and loudly, “Hey, everyone, wasn’t that how it was?”, answers, “Oh, yes, it was, it was—ahaha,” is a poet of hope.