hostages

just less than one hour ago i was still in a noddle bar in nagoya. i was chowing down on a bowl of pork ramen, sitting at a long wooden bar, having just bought my meal ticket at the shiny machine in the corner. the place is rather narrow; there really are no tables in this restaurant, just a bar and stools. no waiters or waiteresses, just bar staff. today is raining, so the place is dark and gloomy. in the corner glows a small portable tv. JNN is on. i'm not sure what JNN stands for, but maybe Japan News Network, as all i can see on tv are pictures of desert, soliders, anchor men, corespondants and hostages. The place is empty apart from a family quietly chatting down the other end of the bar. Mother, father and daughter.

the only thing on the news recently are the 3 japanese civilians been held in iraq. all we can hear now is hostages, hostages, hostages. the mutilated americans, the seven chinese, 3 italians, czechs, etc... also death tolls, soliders and bush.

as i sat eating i thought about the anti war demo: was it really a year ago we walked from embankment to hyde park? my life has certainly changed a lot since then, have my views? no.

of course you can't give in to terrorists or kiddnappers. i have no answers really. a lot of people here are blaming bush. they say he made japan change their pacifist constitution and dragged them into war. i don't subscribe to bush being satan, or any of that crap. i just think he's a bit of a moron, with dangerous views. having him control millions of soliders makes people nervous.


cherry blossoms (slight return)

as fast as they come, they go. the cherry blossoms last around two week: shyly open the door, strut around bold as brass, then die. the speed of blooming to dying is remarkable. full bloom only lasts a day or two before the petals fall creating a cherry blossom storm then the thick pink trees turn fresh green.

the japanese really like cherry blossoms. they say they reflect the ephemeral nature of life, the whimsical universe, the brevitiy of ourselves. they come into our field of vision. first: just a tiny blushing buds on heavy dark branches, just enough to catch your eye. a few days later they bloom, not all at once; the early flowers poke their heads out into the spring wind, before their friends join them, rushing into the party. the sun shines brightly, white and endless for a few hours. it is vast and infinite. then they fall. the petals, in the prime of colour, float and drift away; across the sky. you blink and they are going. the lush flowers are slowly disappearing. blink again and they have gone for good; never to be seen again. the branches are new green. there is a void where the posies used to be, and nothing exists except spring.