Killing Kanoko Wild Grass on the Riverbank by Ito Hiromi

Author:Ito Hiromi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tilted Axis Press
Published: 2020-03-01T23:49:32+00:00

Wild Grass on the Riverbank

Mother Leads Us on Board

Mother led us along

And we got on board

We got on, got off, then on again

We boarded cars and busses

Then we boarded planes

Then we boarded more busses and trains and cars

The place where we arrived was a building of muffled voices, it had a cold corridor where people had gathered in droves, they all looked confused, they all had a confused expression as if they had no idea what would happen next, they were sitting and staring with wide open eyes, the room became dark, and in the middle of it, mother’s form rose up

Mother mumbled, her words a pitter-patter,

“I don’t know what to do”

Mother tapped the floor with her wrinkled hand and whispered,

“We’ve been living like this since you were born”

She closed her eyes halfway, clutched at her breasts and railed,

“I’ve had nothing but hardship since I was born”

She repeated,

“I’ve had nothing but hardship since I was born”

My little brother began to sob

I asked him what’s the matter

He said, I hate it here, I hate it here,

I don’t want to see her

He said I want to run away and go home,

She’s mean, she makes me sick, she’s dirty,

She’s a mess, she’s dirty,

It’s like she’s rubbing off on us,

I don’t want to see or hear her, I want to go home,

My little brother sobbed as he spoke

All the people had unfamiliar faces and sat in unfamiliar fashions, no one seemed to understand Japanese, mother was sitting alone on a stage, then she stood up and thumped her feet against the floor, to everyone else it was nothing but noise, then mother squeezed a noise from her mouth, to me it sounded more like a voice than a plain old noise, it had meaning, it had emotion, it was sad at moments and happy at others, it had meaning, it had meaning, but to all the other people, it was nothing but noise

Mother said,

“A growing, laughing, living body”

Mother repeated,

“A growing, laughing, living body”

Once I asked mother, do all those people understand?

Mother responded,

I don’t think so

Why are you doing that if they don’t understand?

Doesn’t your voice just come out and go away?

Mother responded,

I wonder

Why do all those people come if they don’t understand?

Mother responded,

They come because they don’t understand, get it?

Mother repeated over and over,

“A living body, a living body”

Why do we come places where no one understands us?

Mother responded,

Maybe we can get some money

Mother repeated over and over,

“A living body, a living body”

Little brother said, I hate it here

I whispered, go to sleep

He put his head between his hands, covered his ears, closed his eyes

And before long he stopped moving

I was also starting to doze, little brother’s eyes were closed

Still covering his ears, he fell sound asleep, and started to melt away

I was also starting to doze

“That is what I am, that is who I am”

The words repeated,

“That is what I am, that is who I am”

The voice stopped, mother gave a small laugh, and relieved, the listeners laughed too

We were shaken awake, the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.