A sick clam spits out a beautiful foreign body, which is a pearl.

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa

 

 

Life seems to be a long illness. People hoard the feeling that things don't go as they thought like a lump in themselves. If the lump is spit out not in a collapsed shape like vomit and excreta but in a flawless, beautiful sphere, it may be said to be the ultimate mercy for suffering human nature. From a novel, "Voyages Of PrinceTakaoka" describing the illusion and mystery of the prince's journey heading for Tenjiku to fulfill his dream since childhood.

 

"January 13  2019

from “Oriori no Kotoba” by Kiyokazu Washida, The Asahi Shimbun"