At 3:00 am, she fears the tributary that has been a culvert. She has mercy on the residents of old public apartments built on a reclaimed river.

At an abandoned shopping street, an undertaker stacking the tiny coffins traces a map in the candlelight, checks the place where the funeral will be held tomorrow. He says hello to her in the picture of the deceased.

At dawn, when she wakes up from her sleep with a cactus in her arms. A square boat carrying her sails to the dark river. Every time the boat passes under the bridge, her heart aches due to her nasty memories.

At lunch time, her friends must have mercy on her. She, who is dozing off with a paper cup of coffee on her lap in the waiting room of an orthodontic clinic.

…

hiromi suzuki is a poet, fiction writer and artist living in Tokyo, Japan. She is the author of Ms. cried – 77 poems by hiromi suzuki (Kisaragi Publishing, 2013), logbook (Hesterglock Press, 2018), INVISIBLE SCENERY (Low Frequency Press, 2018), Andante (AngelHousePress, 2019), Found Words from Olivetti (Simulacrum Press, 2020). Her works have been published internationally in poetry journals, literary journals and anthologies.web site: https://hiromisuzukimicrojournal.tumblr.com/Twitter: @HRMsuzuki

Note: “She” is a part of the first poetry collection Ms. cried – 77 poems by hiromi suzuki (kisaragi publishing, 2013 ISBN978-4-901850-42-1). This poem written in Japanese has been translated by hiromi suzuki, 2021.

The first publication in Japanese: Shigaku (Poetics) June Issue, 2000 (Shigaku-sha, Tokyo)