Summer Haikus

Two Years Later… “Keep your eyes closed, Isa.” “Fine.”

The. Longest. Hours. Of. My. Life.

Masa’s fingers grip my waist, and I become lost in a haze. My brain shorts out, taking in the world around me, his living room and us on the couch, naked and unwilling to move to the bedroom.

I’m a bundle of nerves as I pace the sidewalk outside of the restaurant. I know Masa and his parents are in there waiting for me, but I can’t bring myself to open the door and walk inside, despite how ready I am.

I can’t make it farther than eight miles into the ten mile morning run. I’m sick inside with stress over my inevitable new life, finding a new school, canceling classes at Michigan State, the possibility of losing Masa, and not seeing Halley again for many months.

Without Masa, days at the ryokan are getting long and difficult. The Olympics are less than two weeks away, and I’m filling in for the extra tasks Masa used to help with.

“Nakama wa doko no iru no?” “Huh?” I snap out of another blank stare and realize I didn’t understand a word the baker said to me in Japanese.

When we enter Masa’s grandparents’ house in Kamakura, a young detective sits seiza at their common room small table, awaiting our arrival. His grandfather, a tiny graying man with bushy eyebrows, smiles at us from the doorway as we remove our shoes.