Sublime

by AJ/Skald

For a minute, I lost myself. Immersed. I sat and watched beautiful Japanese girls stroll by on the
stairs beside me. My thoughts wandered... images of girls I have loved surfaced. And then it happened... one moment Im writing scathing attacks on the evils of work... the next, Im struck silent by the magnificent beauty of life.

My eyes tear up and I turn my head to hide them. I notice a father holding his baby girl... who is
sleeping in his arms. I notice a couple holding hands. I have so many grand designs but happiness resides in these simple moments.

How magnificent life is. How glorious to be in a coffee shop in Hiroshima, Japan: me, a geeky boy from Georgia; so timid, so fearful as a child. How mysterious for me to end up here.... clothed in overalls, hunched over a laptop, sipping coffee in the first city to be A-bombed. Life always turns out stranger than you imagine.

On the first floor, a middle aged man is stretching in his seat, while a girl in a red apron frantically wipes the booth beside him. Shes smiling.

Across from me, two girls lean towards one another and sip their drinks... look into each others eyes and hold the gaze. I wonder what they are discussing. In another corner, a girl with round cheeks wears a wool hat and thick jacket; shes gulping at her cup. But then she takes a napkin and daintily daubs her lips. She notices my stare and I look away.

So it goes at all times... all around us. A million tiny miracles unfold and we never notice. So
beautiful. So harmonious. So subtle and sublime.