SOUVENIR Poem by Rin Ishigaki

In recent years
Nothing has been
As good a souvenir.
Shining
So lonely
So beautiful
A single phrase.

‘The earth was green'

The astronauts having landed
Quickly got lost in the crowd
The folk in the square clutched tightly
The telescope made of words they had just been given.

— Can you see it?
— Yep
I think so
On an uncertain scaffold.

They discovered for certain
Something there for certain
The language of certainty.

It was almost too far away
Like a vision.

The earth was green.