Earthqake

March 11th

2:46 pm
I was on a sofa in the living room
The handles of dressers started to dance
The noise of earthquake.
I know from the experiences.

I thought it would be over soon, as it always was.
The furniture shook, the room shook, and the building shook.
It was a monster earthquake.
My body with ALS was about to be swallowed by the monster.

What do I do?
I have to think by myself, and I have to act by myself.
All I can do is to crawl,
Crawl and crawl and crawl like a snake.

In the room shaking, I crawled
Toward the center of the room, inch by inch, inch by inch
Oh, God, I called out.
Praying, I covered my head with a cushion.

Rolling and shaking
CDs came falling off
I thought I would die here.
I was scared, I was afraid.
I wanted to die peacefully.
I don't want to be in pain.

I am still alive.
The large shaking stopped.
I looked up and opened my eyes.
What do I do?
What do I do?

The snake made its way to back to the sofa.
It's coming again.  It came again.
The monster of the earth is acting up.
There is nothing I can do.

I turned on the TV
To find out it was not an inland earthquake.

I got an e-mail from Ms. Grasshopper.
"Do you have anybody with you?"
"No.  I'm scared."

In a little while the doorbell rang
Ms. Grasshopper and her boss came.
The boss went out to buy
Snacks and drinks
And left.
I didn't have a chance to say thank you.
Thank you.

Together with Ms. Grasshopper,
Two is better than one
It's heartening.

MAMA came
with a fire fighter's helmet.
She said her dog ran out to the terrace
And was freezing.

Naoko ma, Andrew, and Maruyama came from the office.
They confirmed my safety and reported to the boss.
What a coordination.
What a wonderful company and people.
I was move to tears.

Mari came.  She walked from her home.
Thank you.  And you washed dishes for me.

Again alone with Ms. Grasshopper
"Let's be prepared.　Forewarned is forearmed."
A small candle, a lighter
We packed in a bag, shoes, a towel, and winter clothes.

Ms. Grasshopper said she would carry me on her back.
I'm light but it's on forth floor.
Hang tough.
Hang in together.

We can't fight on an empty stomach.
In the fridge, we found Mari's home cooked tomato stew.
We ate together with gratitude.
We could say it was delicious, even after the earthquake.

After a while, mails arrived all at once.
From kochi, kato, ueno, maho, harumi, hozue, maiko, thank you for your mail.

I got another mail.
What?
From my ex-husband.

"Are you OK? I tried to call, but all lines are busy.  If you can, call, text or email anytime.--Bobby."

"I am with Dad at the doctor now.  I will try to call U tomorrow AM Tokyo time if phones are working. I am so happy U are OK and with Ayako San.  I will pray for you and all Japan.  --Bobby."

My heart is touched by your caring, all the way from U.S.
I'll hang in
To fight against illness and earthquakes.

The day will come to say
"Goodbye" is still far away.

Poem by Maria Franki

Edited and translated by J. Ujiie

©2011