in osaka
the sun was out
and the bums were out
grinning and toothless
clutching see-through containers
of shochu
with swivel caps
all the labels peeled off
I bought a lemon sour from Family Mart
walked with it
past a seafood restaurant
with fish tanks outside it
fish slid around in dirty water
behind the grimy glass
A rat scurried
underneath the tanks
through food trash
I had another lemon sour
which I made short thrift of
then another
I sat with it at the entrance of a large car park
and watched the people edge by
A black SUV pulled up
the window came down
a woman in the driver’s seat
wearing Jackie O sunglasses
and with gold all up her wrists
around her neck,
a sleek black number on
in her 50s at a guess
She leaned over to the window,
“ Hey! where are you from? I’m going to Paris on the 8! August, I mean! For the Olympics!”
“England,” I shot back,
“ England!? I will go London after Paris. Can I take your photo ?“
she took out her phone and snapped me leaning on the rail sipping the lemon sour.
she then said bye and drove off.
This kind of thing sometimes happens to me living in Osaka
but not much
by [deleted]