What is the connection between artistic expression and the joy of living? How can one best live a literary life? This book is a collection of small word-projects. Each examines a book, a moment, a story that helps to deepen the author's literary adv...
I met you once before when I was in my early twenties and I knew we were destined to be closer one day. How close, I did not know at the time.
I might have to say goodbye to you in the near future. I didn't want it to be so, but, life moves on, or so I hear.
Saiwai park, the castle, the camping ground -- these are my favorite places, but they are not the only places that give you charm.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I had one of the best summers of my life here -- in the middle of a pandemic no less -- when I went to the beach 8 or more times, swam, read my books, and faithfully wore my medical mask amongst strangers.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Life will not last forever, and I will never again be as young as I was at the age of 38 in the summer of 2020 -- the year an orange clown ruled the most powerful country and a pandemic swept the earth. 2020 will not be the strangest year. The future suggests stranger, but the strangeness also brings me places that often feel like dreams.
My apartment that overlooks Omura Bay feels like a dream. The little school in Isahaya where I teach kids and tinker with my teaching craft often feels like a dream. Tane coffee and the sun set from the camping ground feel like a dream. Walks in the castle and through the winding streets nearby feel like a dream.
I keep these images in my head like a miser hordes his gold. I try to remember that though things are destined to end, the moments can last forever as long as they are remembered well -- through pictures, through writing, and by speaking the truth.
Life in Omura was not perfect, but it was as close as I might get in my lifetime.
