Japanese

Recognising and meeting a woman, one has not met before is a feat anytime, but in the busy streets of Tokyo it is more so.
One of my students from The Aromotherapy School in Toyko came to Sydney to study at Nature Care in Sydney, and her mother wanted to meet me as she want to hear about her daughter and to know more about Sydney. As a mother of a daughter I deeply understood.
Two mothers of daughters meet and spend the afternoon together.

at a takoyaki bar

by her smile in a sea of faces
on a busy street in Tokyo
we find each other

she elegant petite Japanese
I Australian in jeans jacket and backpack
her daughter our connection

at a takoyaki bar
we two women two languages
tell the stories of our lives
deep mesmeric wells of story
as one can only do with a stranger
with the distance for perspective
noticing the far can be near

with banter of nods and laughter
we chat and listen
listen
with heart and eyes

and with common feminine symbols
we understand each other

our sharing a shuttle
pulling weft across warp
no beginning no end
our fabric of conversation
seamless
and silence part of the weave
we enjoy the aroma of takoyaki
as it is prepared and cooked
share the meal
and together sip green tea

Takoyaki is a sea food dish, a Japanese specialty
cooked and served with ritual at the table sprinkled with bonito flakes and aonori