89

Heading east along the Shakujii gawa at night the inverted pyramidal street lights repeatedly appear and disappear perfectly in the crooks of the trees forming glowing, sudden, upside down tree crotches. That implies that the heads are buried underground, or removed entirely.

83

The earthquake last night woke me and I suddenly thought about the Kabuki from two nights ago. I thought about how a beheading before a snowball fight is funnier than a snowball fight followed by a beheading. Two men in a horse costume – that is always funny and requires no contemplation.

50

An old man with a flashlight and a sharp looking stick is slowly looking for something stuck in a shrub along the Shakujii gawa. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, poke, poke, poke. As always, there is a cat watching. The situation seems innocuous enough at first; still, I get a momentary image in my head of numerous heads on sticks lining the path – both human and feline – with flashlights taped below their chins to create a childish horror effect. A moment later it is once again just a man with a stick looking for something while a cat stands by as witness.