My longtime poet friend Alan Ota found this poem of mine from some time back. He thinks it is moving and might use it in his next book. I didn’t even remember having written this poem. It sounds like something I would write. I still like this poem.
the online invite we got, courtesy Simon Scott, who read his found poem at the workshop
Kita Kamakura Writers’ Workshop
Delighted I got invited to take part in the Kita Kamakura Writers’ Workshop March 21, 2026. I climbed a lot of beautiful green hills (giving my legs an enormous workout) to get to the home of Duncan Whom (aka D Whom, a performance artist, filmmaker and dancer), filled with bottles of perfume because his partner, Neil Chapman, is a scent specialist. We also got taken on another walk around the area, uphill much of the way, to finally see a lake, which had been hidden. Although not articulated, it was part of the workshop to do all this obviously, to feel through our muscles that nothing comes without work. As a reward, we got very nice food, including couscous I hadn’t had in a while, but was marvelous with salad with cheese, and wine.
Last but not least, I got to read my essay, “Why Butterfly Should Stop Committing Literary Harakiri,” published in “Bigotry on Broadway,” Baraka Books, 2021. I hadn’t looked at that piece in a while, and of course never shared it. I have finally come to terms with what I have written, feel and want to tell the world _ everyone _ and our legacy. Racism is wrong, no matter what. But the fight can be meaningful, creative, even redemptive. I was filled with gratitude toward the hosts, the other writers who were there and shared their work, as well as to Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank, who put together the book, in which my work was published. And to the world of artists in general.
My AP Story Nov. 21, 2025, a co-byline with my colleague Terry, about the “rental family” business in Japan and the Hollywood film starring Brendan Fraser it inspired. Click on the link below to see the Video for the Story:
My AP Story July 8, 2025 on Japanese boxing star Junto Nakatani, a story relayed to the world as a Top Story for The Associated Press.
As a reporter, I am privileged to meet some of the best people in the world, like this champion, Junto Nakatani. When I asked him about how he is always smiling, even in the ring, he told me matter-of-factly that it is a disadvantage to get angry because “you lose control.” Obviously, boxing is all about winning. He also said he believes winning by knockout is what is “expected” of him. And I felt like a mom, as I often do at interviews, and in life, because I am one, and couldn’t help but respond with an empathetic: “Hey, it’s OK to just win.” Which goes to say that Nakatani is a very special person _ to bring that out in you.
“CONTINUOUSLY POETRY” My new book of poems, a collaboration with Osaki HANIYA. Out as a real paper book January 2025. Please stay tuned for a big book party _ you are all invited to come celebrate poetry that knows no borders. Some poems shared on this site earlier became a part of the book: Continuously Poetry, Part Two and KELOID. I am very proud of this book. Special thanks to Shinsuke, who volunteered his time and love to put the digital data together so we could get it all nicely printed. So please come to the book party, but I already said that. Details coming soon.
Tokyo Correspondence: Notes From a Writer Beyond the Headlines
I kept a blog from 2007 before I started this site in 2011. Here’s the link below. I’m also sharing after this TEPCO CORRESPONDENCE: Notes From a Writer Beyond the Headlines. Those are my posts on Facebook in 2011, while I was covering the utility behind the Fukushima nuclear disaster. It’s amazing to run across bits of your past self _ and what you wrote then. Both so clearly you and not you at all. Yet totally the truth. And all that makes you you.
