Title: "What a splendid dream I had!

Name:  Rieko #610
Date:  8:14 am  Sat Apr 16, 1994


      Walking on a road with grass verges
after passing through a muddy school yard.
My left shoe is missing.
. . . . I must buy one.
Glancing to the left. 

      Red buildings clinging to the winding landscape. 
"What a beautiful clutter of buildings!"
Entering the town.
Alleyways appearing and disappearing
seem as intimate as a courtyard.
People here and there.
Some are walking, some are resting,
speaking a strange language.

      Going into a restaurant in a cul - de - sac.
"What time do you close?" I ask in . . . . 
whatever the language is.
"I will come back later with a friend of mine."
A young woman who speaks a little Japanese 
leads me on through the town.

      A juxtaposition of the worlds of Arabia and Spain.
"I would like a nice cheap shoe to fit my bare left foot", I say
 . . . . hoping that she will show me where I can get one.

      The streets she guides me through are full of colour, 
 . . . . the colours of Flanders in the16th. century  
 . . . . deep greens, reds and ochres.

      The sweet air unmoving, 
 . . . . heavy with moisture.
 . . . . A strangely familiar scene.

      A river slowly unwinding.
Tranquil in its depths of blue and green .
I am on a balcony looking at the river.
 . . . . a balcony, prominent in the clutter 
of red buildings on a hill.

      The young woman with me speaks, 
resting her back against the balustrade.
 . . . . I am aware of the scenery - her framed within.

I point out a hotel on the other side of the river bank and say,
"I would like to go there with a friend of mine later."

A strange town . . . . crawling at a snail's pace.
A clutter of red, red buildings.


by Rieko

(Translation by Tsuneo MATSUMOTO, Judy MATSUMOTO )