Below the breathtaking slopes of Fuji-san lays a sprawling sea of trees shrouded with an ominous air of darkness. Lengths of string knotted to trees along the pathways weave its way into the dense forest allowing family search parties to find their way back out. Small bits of red ribbon tied to the branches float in the cold breeze: they are markers of bodies lost and found. Besides the occasional scatted bits of clothes tossed across the mossy tree roots, the only signs of human activity are the warning posts and surveillance cameras posted around the perimeter of the forest. The forest whispers the notes of its captive song into the wind - almost daring trespassers to enter. (w/ Love from Nippon)
Outside one of the booming urban centers of modernization and social transformation, a farmer’s wife escapes around the back of her family’s hut. Tears of pain trickle down her sunken cheeks and sun-worn skin. Her locked jaw clenches to stifle a howl of anger rising up from an empty stomach. Blood breaks the skin across her knuckles as she wraps her fingers around the can of toxin. In the heat of the moment she lifts the contents to her mouth. Her cry for help falls on deaf ears, and she falls silent forever. (w/ Love from rural China)
I am battling the two-faced demon deemed dangerous by the oppressive of society - my wits have been scuffed dull - blunt mind steals the lines from my mouth before they fall on the keys of an alien language. I scramble to scramble this hardboiled funk - I reach back to crack the shell that withholds the truth - but I'm beaten to it.
