A young family having a good time playing with handheld fireworks in the parking lot of a shopping mall
Lights from the baseball stadium and the discount store shine bright, like a meteor light from an extrasolar planet
Hungover, I threw up my stipend, a provincial city developing a rash caused by insectile scales
An older student from my school died on the bypass, been like that every year for the last 10 years
Squelched an insect under the logic that you’re finished if you start searching for the meaning of life
For us, philosophy’s just a poem hanging on the bathroom wall of a pub
The sort of thing that kind of makes you nod your head in agreement when you’ve had too much to drink
But by the next day it all dries up together with sweat and the bill

To the light filtering through the tree leaves, to the switchyard freight cars, to you who are working, To you who once changed the world

It used to be just you and I, that tranquil place we shared we called our world, our bodies becoming one, looking after our immaturity at the very end​ ​
A sunset from the school yard and a mushroom cloud, the farthest limit of school blazer ribbons and loneliness
Wearing an oil-stained shirt, I load a truck up with illusions

The past, future, us against the world​ ​

Feels like I’ve left something behind, but I’ve already forgotten what it was
Or perhaps I’m the one left behind by something
Forever restless and always in a hurry as if on some mission, if I remember correctly her name was time​ ​​ ​
Can’t even catch a glimpse of her anymore, can’t even remember her smile

Pain’s gone, a scab of a sunset, old wounds still ache but, the sound of a silenced alarm clock

A wasteland used to spread out infinitely before my eyes, go forward or not, it’s still courageous, my fallen friend, I will never leave you behind
Our sensitivity led us to armed uprisings, came from behind to snatch victory, past glories can be packaged but there’s no place for it to go

The past, future, us against the world

I believed that the world would change, I believed we were the ones to change it
Didn’t doubt for a second that we’d ever feel differently, even if we went our separate ways
Even betrayals, even deceptions, even unfounded false accusations, even flattery, even excuses, even verbal promises
Even manga cafes, even packed trains, even artificial compliments, even apologies, even disgrace and abuse
Even friends I can be straight up with, even my fellow comrades in arms from the past, even funny stories that I couldn’t laugh about back then
Even music, even my son and daughter, even the government, even left and right, even the past and present, even stories about the future

Taking a breather, on a weekend, feelings a lukewarm breeze in the park, in our clasped hands, there is a warmth​ ​
The sequel to the world we saved on that day, the aftermath of the world we destroyed on that day, we agonized but fought hard to live since then

The past, future, us against the world