Taipei. Rained hard earlier this evening. Everything looks glassy when it rains in twilight like this. Then the evening glitter of the business district took over. I cannot tell if I was sitting in a restaurant on Clement Street (SF) or Kothi (Hyd) or Min-Chiuan road here in Taipei. Already exhausted and spent with all this travel, I didn’t care. This was such a night when I waited for A. one lonesome night way back when he was still young, healthy and between us we couldn’t get enough Heidegger to fill our bones. Smoke-filled pockets of air, just like how it was today.
Years ago on the same street, in the same restaurant, me and Amma struggled to keep our grocery bags standing straight by the side of our legs, while we gobbled that milky sweet, giggling at each other. She suddenly stuck her spoon in my bowl, lifting a big scoop, and I stared back aghast, “What’s this…!” Her body laughed all over.
Returning to the hotel room, I asked the girl at the reception, “Is that a church at that corner?” She said “Yes.” Beautiful girl. She is someone’s daughter, someone else’s sister. I bet she is in love. Why can’t this beautiful girl be reason enough for me to live…?
