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3. Ronin of Sagami Bay
- University of Nebraska Press
- Chapter
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| 27 | RONIN OF SAGAMI BAY | 3 Ronin of Sagami Bay The sword was mine, a natural, driftwood bounty shaped by steady ocean currents to fit my tiny hands. I raised that sword over my head, slowly turned about to my shadow, and practiced the cuts, thrusts, and blocks of a seven-year-old hafu ronin on the beach, the serious, solitary, ingenuous pantomime of a samurai warrior. My wooden sword, a natural contour, had washed ashore near the orphanage at Oiso Long Beach on Sagami Bay. I was roused by a sense of tradition and secret power, and at first touch that sword cast a mighty shadow on the beach. The ocean gave me another chance to create a lasting presence in the world. My heart beat with the waves as the bony clouds raced out to sea. Nearby, four ravens strutted on the beach and teased me with garrulous croaks. The sun warmed the sand, my hands, and drew me into a natural pocket of solace stories. Suddenly, a strange animal, a mongrel with soft webbed feet, stole my sword right out of my hand. He ran down the beach and into the trees. There, the mongrel changed from a sandy coat to shades of pale green and then vanished in the luscious blues and hues of the forest. I heard hushed voices, but my vision was blurred by the bright leaves and mighty trees. I must have lost consciousness. Sometime later a tribe of water tricksters, curious, moist, miniature humans, surrounded me in the green. They were nude, bluish at the creases, and comely armed with wooden swords, but not one of them meant to threaten me. I pointed my finger at the outlaw mongrel who stole my sword. Who is that mongrel? Kaisoku, the pirate. Who are you? The mighty nanazu. What name? Bay water nanazu. Right here? Twice by humor. No, how so? | RONIN OF SAGAMI BAY | 28 | Free, naturally. No school? Only a trickster academy. The nanazu turned around, a wobbly pirouette, and burst into hardy laughter. Then, with every gust and flurry of sound, they raised swords and bounced from one foot to the other, a natural dance of miniature tricksters. Chaimu, a healer, caressed my cheeks with her moist, webbed hands, and several other nanazu peered into my mouth, ears, and other places and parts. Their touch was soft, warm, and dewy. The nanazu were born miniature, and mature. There were no obvious children, no scent of suckers, primal cries, or baby cargo. They never mentioned age in their creation stories, and they never used the words, toshi totta, elderly, or toshi o toru, to grow old. The nanazu were curious about my navel and tiny penis. I was shied by their moist webbed hands, as you can imagine, and when my penisu arose they shouted the word, kyojin, kyojin, kyojin, over and over, and danced around me with swords raised high over their heads. The word kyojin means a giant person, a natural nanazu tease. Nori, the poet of the nanazu, leaned closer and told me stories about trickster creation, the vast empire of water and stones. They were vigilant, miniature warriors, and they watched my penisu rise and wane by the sound of their words. Swords were raised to words of ascent, and downcast by other words. Nori said the nanazu were engendered by the natural tease of words, and that words created me in a tricky, visionary story. What is your word? My name? No, your promise. Mifune. Not your name. My word? Your mighty words. Atomu hafu. Nori and the other nanazu raised their swords, leaped into the nearest trees, and perched on the wide boughs, a natural, wild sway. Overhead the lean blues melted into the greens, and the nanazu shouted, Atomu hafu, over and over, Atomu hafu arise with our swords near the shore. [54.198.157.15] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 08:23 GMT) | 29 | RONIN OF SAGAMI BAY | Kaisoku, the mongrel pirate, returned with my sword and turned sandy again when he sat beside me. I could hear crickets and many frogs in the green, ravens on the wings, and the rush of ocean waves in the distance. Nori told me to shout out three natural words to create a poem, a new world of perfect memory. The nanazu bounced out of the trees and circled me once more in the blue shadows. They waited in silence to hear the sound of my precise...