【Poem】Bento

A woman’s robust smile

When she first met me

she lifted one corner
of her mouth

with a little
“hmph”

A quarter of a century
since then

She probably
doesn’t look much different
from me

I scroll down the screen

A boy holding
a basketball

and you

smiling together
in a gymnasium

A bento in your hands
with rolled omelet inside

During the summer holidays

digging wells
somewhere overseas

The dream
of working for the world

has been
neatly erased
from the photographs

My affection

remains

suspended in midair

English translation: AI-assisted translation from my original Japanese poem.