Singing of their happy lot, they changed the wallpaper, they said. It is a wall with no wrinkles and no stains. It is a wall of pink and cream-yellow flowers that marks the end of a long winter. Their new home is a second-hand flat, but it has been transformed into a beautiful room.

Bossa Nova is playing on the portable radio. I am a 30-year-old high school girl, welcomed by furniture made of Norwegian wood, served milk tea and chocolate tarts. The girl who stiffens her body and gazes at the distance. Sometimes they both disappear willingly into the kitchen. I hear the sound of steam from a pot of boiling water along with their secret laughter.

Ride my bike, stop by at a grocery store to buy a side dish for tonight and a bottle of cheap table wine, I go home. With a gentle breeze on my cheek, I remember having my homework, and a math test tomorrow. I also have to submit the paper of geography, and more importantly, I have to reorganize my desk which has been confused since the end of last summer. When I grow up, someone will tell me what it means to be in love and to love forever. I am just a flower on the wall thinking about it with jealousy and a little embarrassment.

…

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), Ephemera (Colossive Press, 2021). Double solo exhibition with Francesco Thérès visual HAIKU | OLIVETTI poems was held in Rome, 9 ～30 September 2021.

Note: wallflower is a part of the first poetry collection Ms. cried – 77 poems by hiromi suzuki (kisaragi publishing, 2013 ISBN978-4-901850-42-1). The poem written in Japanese have been translated by hiromi suzuki, 2022.