Springtime in Tokyo

Outside the day is like Autumn in California
says the short-haired Japanese woman,
the inn-keeper
shuffling the house slippers into tidy lines atop the step.
The day is warm and dry and the sky is blue-blue.
It is my favorite type of day, and if there is wind –
There is.
I gush at the prospect of fresh dry wind
like California’s Santa Anas
that make me high on wild-happy and desert sweet.
The fat yellow-eyed cat of the house
sits behind the woman and meows.
He’s quite the talker I tell her.
She has stopped arranging the slippers
and is staring at the front door.
He’s got problems – constipation
especially in this season.
Oh, that’s too bad.
Yes. It’s too bad. Have a wonderful day.
I say thank you and smile and float through the door
and down the street to the train bound for Shinjuku.