September 22, 2005
Blog: Consumptive
>for example
/there's a foot bridge near my work in shinagawa that spans a canal flowing off tokyo bay. i wait there if i'm early, sipping canned coffee and peering into the deep black water, comforted by the silvery spines skipping across cresting waves of current.
the other day, as i approached the bridge, i noticed another man intently watching the water, lost to his thoughts. what struck me as odd was that he was leaning against the opposite side of the bridge from where i always stand. i remember thinking, why would he do that? it's not so beautiful that direction; that view is towards a factory.
the moment i stood in my familiar place, facing the bay, the light and space before me, i immediately noticed what previously was never so clear: i've always looked at where the water has been, where it is coming from and my thoughts too are on the things that i've done.
so i turned away toward the other side and walked over to see how things might look from a different perspective - a focus on the future, on what must be done or on what could be.
but I couldn't take it more than a few seconds. honestly, watching all that water flow out from me made me nauseous.
Posted by Cieciel at September 22, 2005 02:59 AM