Dear Ones,
Yesterday was the beginning — a long travel day from New Mexico to California to Japan. Everything was on time and went smoothly. I am now sitting in my hotel, very early in the morning, although my body thinks it is afternoon, taking time to let you know the pilgrimage has begun. I have one small poem, written in the Admirals’ Club in Los Angeles before boarding the flight to Tokyo, and one image I was surprised to get as we approached for landing at Haneda airport.
My very best to all my companions on the Way,
Flint
Stepping off the Curb
— 10-10-26, LAX
Standing quietly at the curb
in the stillness and chill
of early morning darkness,
with my luggage as my only companions,
I waited for my ride.
What I may have forgotten
is simply forgotten.
One has to eventually commit,
despite the inevitable uncertainties.
What is to come has yet to arrive.
Then stepping off the curb,
as if pulled by an invisible force
from the headlights of the approaching car
that will take me to the airport —
it was time.
Such an ordinary, everyday step.
And yet…
Every real pilgrimage begins
with an ordinary, human step
through an invisible threshold
in the night.
Mt. Fuji appearing through the clouds…