DAY 8
00:51
01:44
Earth pushes
wakes me
03:55
I’m rocked
back to sleep
still no text from Yuka
the house is so cold I stay under blankets
I hear Mother tell Father
an embassy e-mail says
the US government is evacuating American citizens
from Tokyo to East Asia
Father tells her we can go
I hear her say,
we cannot go
this is home
she is plugged in
working at her laptop
communicating with and
helping out
foreigners who are leaving
from my window
I see Grandmother heading to the vegetable stand
Great-grandfather is sowing seeds for more vegetables
before Father leaves the house
he comes, stands beside me
asks if I want to leave
I know Mother would go if I wanted
I know he would let us go
they would let me go
I look at him
then out
at Grandmother and Great-grandfather
in the fields
and tell him, no
out in the fields
I watch
09:41
Earth shake the house
our home
I look up
where are you going?
I ask passing clouds
I look down
on the row I hoed
take my shoes off
and
curl my toes deep
past the topsoil
into warmth
Great-grandfather looks at my bare feet and
says nothing
the slim rubber soles of
his jikatabi
keep him close to the ground
stable
silk braids
from old floor mats
dangle from his belt
he ties poles together
crisscrossed
two by two
to support
young bean plants
he gently directs these tender vines
to the poles
I follow behind him
but
do not ask to help
he has his own rhythm
I reach out to a straggler he missed
and
notice a shadow walking
along the edge of the park fence
a black cat wearing a red collar
sits down and watches me
later
I check my phone
still my text is “unread”
I’m worried about Yuka
Mother says, traveling takes longer now
I fold
press
release several cranes and
notice
at our dining room sliding glass door
the black cat is watching me
I open the door to shoo it away
the cat steps inside
sits and
looks up at me
do you know this cat? Mother asks
no
she tries to coax the cat outside
17:01
the house shakes
the collar bell dings
the cat sits
shifts
settles
Mother checks the collar
no tag
no name
no contact information
we have no idea who this cat is
I’ll call the vet tomorrow
Mother bikes to 7-Eleven to buy cat food and litter
buys the last bags on the shelf
makes a litter box out of a vegetable tray
a bed out of a cardboard box and
a flyer with the cat’s picture on it
I make a flyer
asking for sunflower seed donations
the cat sits in front of
17:16
me under the table
17:27
watching
and at bedtime
follows me to my room
23:10
and sits at a distance
in the dark
this cat must think I rescued it
I only opened the door
25 CRANES
DAY 9
1:49
04:53
06:18
up early for Saturday
Father stops on his way to the kitchen
says, eh-h-h-h?
when he
sees the cat
sitting beside me at the table
Mother explains
Father smiles
says, really?
I ignore the conversation
we have a cat, Father says
when he sees the litter box, bed, and bowls
Mother calls the vet
tells us he doesn’t know about
a missing black cat
says we’ll go for a checkup this afternoon
I ignore the conversation
this cat creates more work, more worry
he has come
08:32
at the wrong time
Father takes a copy of Mother’s flyer
out to the vegetable stand
I follow with the flyer I made
the cat will not follow me outside
Father joins Great-grandfather
to dig up young leeks
to transplant them in deeper trenches
to protect them
and
to give them room
to reach deep and grow long
the starling pecks through the trenches
I take off my shoes
barefoot
I join them
the sun makes me
take off my windbreaker
we work side by side by side
08:49
Earth jolts us
08:50
but we are in Great-grandfather’s rhythm
like clockwork
we finish the job
at the garden sink
Father says nothing about my feet
he only says, this dirt never washes off completely
Father looks happy to return to the fields
after lunch
Mother asks me to walk
to the animal clinic
beside her bicycle
with the cat in the basket
(she tempted him with fish)
I do not want to go
but go
to stop by the hardware shop
afterward
at the clinic
the vet puts Mother’s flyer in the window
thanks us for fostering him
(it’s a boy)
gives us samples of food and litter
(cats can be picky)
says he hasn’t been out long, and
adds,
this cat was loved
at the hardware shop
Goto-san greets us
I scan the racks for sunflower seeds
don’t see them and
ask
Goto-san tells me, not in yet
not to worry
there’s time
next month is the time to plant here
the cat watches me come out
he almost looks sad for me
as I fold cranes
Mother tells me
she knows about cats
as a kid
she went from house to house
some had cats
she moved on but the cats stayed
cats can be good friends
she spends the afternoon making the cat feel at home
the table is off limits
but he doesn’t understand
Mother starts calling him “Shadow”
in English
he is attached to me but
is never too near
always watching me
I watch the pendant light
checking to see if it’s moving
to see if Earth’s moving
I cannot tell
it feels like we are always moving
I fold press release
Shadow watches from a distance
at dinner
I don’t need to check the light
18:56
I grab my mug and
head under the table
Shadow is still
watching me
I hear Father in their bedroom
snoring
snorting
snoozing soundly
field work is good for me, he tells us
before going to bed early
Shadow follows me to bed
watches me count cranes on my windowsill
watches me turn out the light
the supermoon
in
Shadow’s eyes
is the last thing
I see
25 CRANES
DAY 10
in the morning
Shadow is the first thing I see
he wants to be fed
it’s my chore
along with cleaning his litter box
Mother heads out on her bike
Father and Grandmother set up the vegetable stand
I go out to the fields to join Great-grandfather
looking back at the house
I see Shadow sitting on my windowsill
10:30
crushing my cranes
a man parks his bike at the edge of the field
walks out
stands in front of a cabbage head
motions to Great-grandfather and
asks to buy it
Great-grandfather says it is not good quality
says it is last season’s
the man insists
Great-grandfather nudges it
slides his knife underneath
between it and Earth
he rolls it from hand to hand
inspects
