Hana Takahashi a swordfish and maguro fisherman in Shiogama city,
A seventy-five-foot longliner slicing the ebb and flow out of Matsushima bay,
Returning laden with ice filled crates bound for Tokyo, Osaka and beyond,
Moored shift end to the sushi-bar ocean tales as the saké flows,
Morrow sun ablaze through his loren then a violent shake ensues,
Sirens wail as the town rises like the seas, villagers scramble to higher ground,
Repetitive wall of the Pacific crashes through everything we’ve known,
Life serene, then vicissitudes in tides we’ve come to know bring heartbreak abound,
Rebuilding reforming renewing reliving life’s puzzle, hearts of gold kintsugi.
‘Sendai Tōhoku’
