In the soil of the garden lived shining green bugs

Those intertidal sea creatures have no eyes, no mouth,

just a transparent sack-like body filled with algae

Upon eating as much algae as they need right after birth

The creatures close their mouth and then let it degenerate

Thereafter they live on nutrients produced by the algae through photosynthesis When the tides fall, they rise to the surface and soak up the sun

When the tides rise, they submerge to keep from washing away

In the garden, while separated from the sea, they do the same

Diving into the sand when comes time of the tide

Asked how they know the right time

you replied,"it must be the algae that remember" [...]

 


 

In winter the algae brown, and the green bugs perish If they are properly connected to the sea

They'll be born again with spring

You ate the green bugs as you cleaned the garden the reason you will come back here in the spring

I found the whole place filled with foam of the waves You are standing on the waves

If I speak to you now

I'll never leave the shore

 

Text by Yuki Shimizu
Translation: Miyuki Hinton, Yuki Shimizu

 

Yuki Shimizu

Born in Chiba, Japan in 1984. Graduated from Musashino Art University, Japan in 2007. Shimizu received the 5th photography 1_WALL Grand Prize in 2011 and the 18th Miki Jun Award in 2016. Shimizu uses photography and prose to weave stories rooted in the history and lore of landscapes.

She began writing novels around 2017; in 2018, she won the Grand Prize of Shinchosha's "女による女のためのR-18文学賞". She published "よみがえりの川" (Shinchosha, 2019), "花盛りの椅子" (Shueisha, 2022), and "海は地下室に眠る" (KADOKAWA, 2023). Recent solo exhibitions include PURPLE "Fall asleep and disappear into the sea" (2023), Studio 35min/A'holic "The River of Resurrection" (2023), PGI "Empty park" (2019) "Half Dreaming Glass" (2022), Nikon salon "To the underground" (2019), Kanzan gallery " Dear my phantom" (2018), etc.