さよなら

さよなら, a photo by roberthuffstutter on Flickr.

WHAT RED LANTERNS MEAN TO ME

(Inspired by a photograph by Kibayashi)

There is nothing like the image of red lantern
to stir my memories. The red lantern in Japan
must mean many things
to many people,
but to me, a
red lantern
is a promise of a sort of peace and kindness, a beacon
in the night that beckons those who might
be wandering,lost in the night.

There is nothing like the sight
of a red lantern glowing to
stir up my old memories of
warm and friendly faces.
The red lantern
in Japan
must mean many things to many
people,
but to me, a red lantern
is a promise of a sort, a kindness glowing
in the night, a kind of beacon in the night
that calls to those who might be
wondering, lost in the night.
The sight of a red lantern
glowing in the darkest part
of a city anywhere in Japan
was like a Zen moment
in a sea of strangers I never knew,
strangers who never knew me,
yet people who showed love by smiles and
a cup of tea or sake, a moment in time
unspoken, unreported, but remembered
for untold years, pleasant memories not
forgotten, but always a kind of kindness
meant for me to to follow, a place of shelter and
silent kindness.

By Robert L. Huffstutter