Raspberry

 

Snow’s gone lilacs were coming.

I was stunned when lilac blossoms bloomed.

I’d never known there was such a dreamy scent in that land.

I was then a young foreign student there.

–

The lilac blossoms were gone, then raspberries ripened.

I first saw her in a raspberry bush by the meadow.

She was walking slowly in the bush.

Her face under a wide-brimmed hat was focused on the berries to pick.

–

She came and extended to me her palms holding the berries.

“Edible?” I asked and she nodded yes.

I tasted the sour sweet while she watched me with her large eyes with full attention.

That moment I felt as if I was being born again.

–

Till then, I’d never seen a western girl except on the Hollywood silver screen.

Such a girl was way beyond the walls and fences.

It was a dream that came true that I was talking with such a girl in person.

Not only her, she had lots of friends, and they all became my friends, too.

–

It was only some years after the war’s end that I went to that land.

Many of my high school seniors had been trained to kill the people.

To kill my would-be good friends, and they themselves died in action.

Had not the war ended in time, I would have been trained to kill them, too.

–

The war’s end removed at least the wall and fence that existed there then.

The flows of people to each other’s side began.

Peace came in our part or the world, bringing better lives and happiness.

Why new walls and fences then?

–

Walls and fences exist here and there all over the world today.

People feel insecure unless they secure their domains with walls and fences.

But the fact is that walled and fenced domains guarantee no security.

Political leaders’ job is to remove the existing walls and fences.

–

But the leaders work in the opposite way.

Our government has just issued an order to our self-defense members overseas.

They were ordered to run to help in case third friendly countries’ posts are attacked.

They are now allowed to use their weapons if necessary in such a mission.

–

Peace and prosperity come when all the walls and fences are gone.

Walls and fences must be gone for the happiness of us all.

What must be done should be done.

What should be done can be done.

(AshiAkira 11-19-16)

 

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