Murmurings of My Mind

Seoul Dreaming, Kyoto Calling.

These days, I often catch my mind escaping the realm of reality. It would flap its wings and whisk me away to a distant dreamland.

While typing vigorously on the keyboard at work, I’m reminded of a golden butterfly. The one that I saw in Hirokazu Koreeda’s film “Still Walking.”

It makes me want to take a summer stroll across rural Japan. I will be content to just experience Diane Neill Tincher’s traveling trails across Japan.

I would come to a halt when I encounter a grandmother on a walk somewhere in Japan. She is looking over at the horizon.

Is she missing her grandchildren or does she wish her husband was alive to hold her hand?

I’d sit next to her and talk to her about her life, hoping she’d tell me something that becomes my turning point in life.

Perhaps later we’ll eat some cold noodles and tempura. Omoide by Tsunekichi Suzuki is playing either in the izakaya or in my mind. I can’t discern.

I snap back at the sound of another e-mail notification. I bury myself in the work once more.

Now I travel with the strength of my yearning and longing once more while listening to Hangul hip-hop. While muscle memory takes me back home.

I find myself sitting in a very retro-looking cafe in Seoul. I imagine watching the snow falling outside, a dark and chilly atmosphere.

The city seems quieter and I appreciate it.

I’d look at every passing person, wondering where they were going. I hope they have a happy home to return to.

Will she meet up with her partner? I could trace the smile behind the scarf’s heavy covering.

What was that book she was holding? Maybe that book will have clues about how she perceives life or how she wants her partner to be.

I’d want to invite that middle-aged gentleman to join me for a tea. Or would he like some Soju this evening?

He appears exhausted, and I wouldn’t mind engaging in a conversation with a stranger today. But he might want to hurry back home to his kid.

Is that the same song playing in the cafe that I’m bobbing my head to right now?

I’m opening the door to my house before I realize it. I’ve returned from my travels, my work, and the two worlds I’ve been living in at the same time.

I might meet you in my own world one day. Maybe I will remember you as my favorite fictional character.