由比ヶ浜海岸 (Yuigahama Beach)

When I was little, I came home with my pockets full of rocks from the playground weighing me

down. I knew that if I didn’t hold on, I’d disappear.

小松川公園 (Komatsugawa Park)

We were traveling through the void at 67,000 MPH, rocketing into eternity. Gravity held the rest

of us down, while my dad floated away.

He loved the stars.

西新宿 (Nishishinjuku)

I escaped by writing a story. It was a true story. My dad ran away and joined a circus. That was

how he escaped. His story was how I escaped. The story I wrote opened a portal for me to

climb through. I emerged on the other side four years later. I spoke a new language.

庚申塚停留場 (Kōshinzuka Station)

There’s a fine line between looks like something from a fairy tale and a fairy tale, and we tripped

over it without even trying. The wind blew sand in our faces, and we were suddenly in an empty

city.

We didn’t eat until we got home.

東京駅 (Tokyo Station)

It’s hard to find empty space in a city where you can’t see the stars, but the streets unfolded for

me. I did figure eights on my bike in the middle of a four lane highway. I got lost by walking in

straight lines and found again by going around widdershins three times.

The station materialized in front of me like a mirage.

松島 (Matsushima)

I arrived nameless. I fell in love with the city; it gave me my name. In my dreams I see the pine

trees. I dream of swimming, but I wake before I step foot on the island.

I am tired of waiting to return.

池袋駅 (Ikebukuro Station)

A will-o’-wisp lead me in circles under the station in the swamp, until I promised out loud that I’d

come back again someday. Then it lead me up the stairs and I was blinking in the sunshine,

exactly where I wanted to be.

丸の内 (Marunouchi)

I tried to fit the entire city in my suitcase. When that didn’t work, I cut out my heart and hid it. I

won’t tell you where. Maybe if you listen closely, you can hear it beating in the rumble in of the

trains underfoot.

柳森神社 (Yanagimori Shrine)

A black bird flew into my mouth while I was singing to the city. It made a nest in the hollow

place. It keeps me breathing.

千鳥ヶ淵公園 (Chidorigafuchi Park)

I promised I’d come back in the spring. I’m friends with the trees; they tell me their secrets. I

broke my promise: the plague, you know.

成田空港 (Narita Airport)

Someday, I will drift away. I will float out to the sea. I will fly back on an airplane and plant my

feet like roots in the rice fields. I will write a hundred love poems to my city, and it will sing to

me.