A return to Shinjuku Gyoen, & the City

After 7 months away, which shocked when I calculated how long it had been, I returned to Shinjuku Gyoen. I took off my shoes and put my bare feet against the same stone I have many times before. This time I just brushed my eyes over the lily-covered pond, listened to what some birds were saying, and watched hopefully for a turtle to pop its head above water. One did. This pleased me.

Later this evening I walked in my city, Shinjuku, and a parade of peculiarity was on display. Such is life in the city. Some things I saw: A man in a suit cocking his head very queerly and standing in the middle of a minor street, who drew the stares of a young couple; two homeless men sleeping in the middle of the afternoon under a blanket by the entrance of Shinjuku Gyoen, they laid side-by-side, like an old married couple on a winter night, but it was broad daylight, and hundreds of people were walking right by them, around their blanket lay more food wrappers and cans than I consume myself in a day, so they didn’t seem to lack for food and drink; I saw a pretty j-girl sit next to her obese j-girl friend letting her smoke on her, which disappointed me as I fancied her from seeing her earlier; saw a construction worker pop out of a hidden door at 10:30pm, still hard at work.

As I walked home, PJ Harvey said to me:

The whores hustle, and the hustlers whore, too many people are out of love . . . .

The song reached its crescendo as I strode across the very wide street Ome Kaido one of 300 people crossing the street between skyscrapers and an aquarium of neon, the timing of the song and the location were so perfect it gave me chills. I wanted to just vanish . . . .

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