Seventy-Six

“A new discovery is made on the treatment for Alzheimer’s…”
The evening broadcaster drones on as we eat

That’s for people who cannot walk anymore 
Like those patients using walkers on the screen
A good thing I’m not like them

She says
softly
It’s probably about people who are forgetful too

I slurp the miso soup she made

But you know who I am, right?
She asks

Well isn’t that obvious,
Of course I know it’s you

Then you must be fine,
She smiles,
Like tens of years ago.
That must mean you are fine.

---

Hello, my name is Aoi Onodera and I am a student currently living in Tokyo. I recently turned nineteen and study political science as a freshman. Though my parents are both Japanese, I have spent half of my life abroad; seven years in Manhattan, and two and a half in Montreal. I thus perpetually miss both everything bagels with tofu scallion cream cheese and the St-Viateur sesame bagels and lox. Literature has always been a sanctuary for me, a place where I can half-exist by residing in the character’s conscience and temporarily forgetting about the real world spinning around me. And the more I did this, I came to realize how eye-opening literature can simultaneously be; it provides you the time and opportunity to reflect on how you perceive the world, other individuals, and your very self. I truly hope that my writing will someday move readers in this way. This has been my dreamlike goal for a long time, so I am more than thrilled to have my poems published. I sincerely thank all who took a moment to interact with my words. Please contact me for business inquiries.

Artwork by Kita Das.