Kobe, 1995

(Leaf 21) – Remembrance

 

Tim Chamberlain - Kobe, Japan (15 January 2004)

This poem was written on, or around, the ninth anniversary of the Kobe earthquake. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the earthquake which struck on 17 January 1995. The poem is about a section of the harbourfront which has been preserved as a memorial (as seen in the photograph above). Around the time of writing this poem I read Murakami Haruki’s collection of loosely-linked short stories, titled ‘After the Quake’, which is an innovative and interestingly idiosyncratic creative reflection upon the natural disaster. I was in Kobe at the time of the Tohoku earthquake in 2011. I always feel that the tremors we occasionally feel living here in Japan are a constant reminder that nothing we do as humans is built on solid foundations. We like to think it is, but the world is much more fluid than we realise. Most of us try to forget this, however, and not think about it.

 

 

 

KOBE, 1995

 

Lampposts at odd angles

– a reflection

in the water.