SHŌNAN GRAY
Sunday is a Gray day
taking pictures with Cora
all over Kamakura
posing that stupid
stuffed squirrel
everywhere—
riding the streetcar
in front of the Great Buddha
at a shop with a cone of
green and purple ice cream
in English group on Monday
the parents are all excited
about the pictures I took
and about Cora’s business plan
which I’m suddenly
somehow a big
important part of
other kids have simpler business ideas
dog walking services
calendars with recipes
English lessons
muffin sales
Cora’s idea
is Shōnan Gray, and the plan
is to take photographs
of Gray and our Shōnan Coast
then add English
and put pictures and text
on T-shirts
dog-poop bags
mugs
clear folders
Shōnan Gray sees the Great Buddha
Shōnan Gray eats an ice cream
Shōnan Gray wants to surf
Shōnan Gray rides the streetcar
to me it’s stupid
but she’s the CEO
and I’m the CFO
and chief of photography
at least I like the spreadsheet job
setting up the functions
so we can track income
and expenses
at school I make extra effort
to keep my mouth shut
trying not to be different
trying not to be hammered
but then on Tuesday
something goes missing
and at first, because of the way
Ōshima-sensei’s talking
I can’t figure out
what it is exactly
and I open my big mouth
to ask
Ōshima-sensei holds up
a plain bronze paperweight—bunchin—
and I realize that what’s missing
is the dragon paperweight
but the way Ōshima-sensei
said bunchin is hilarious to Naho
who imitates with
a pen
an eraser
a protractor
then gets the brilliant idea
to draw a heap of unchi—poop
and hold up the drawing in one hand
her calligraphy paperweight in the other
and looks from one to the other
and in an Ōshima-sensei voice says
bunchin
unchi
I laugh
because I have to
but I hate
that I have to laugh
and then
Ōshima-sensei
hollers at han six
and we all
have to write
bunchin—paperweight—文鎮
in our notebooks
fifty times
and ryū—dragon
old style 龍
and ryū—dragon
new style 竜
fifty times each
which I don’t mind
because for a change
everyone in han six is
actually working