Park Bench Society

The re-make of Pillow Talk

SCENE 1
(A view from a window. Wet roof in a rainy afternoon. Drops of water falling from the edge of the roof into a man-made pond below. Koi fishes swim beneath the surface. The ivy covered wall with its spreaded vines and full leaves are wet and looks so green and clean. The smell of wet grass flowing through the open window. The sounds of thunder in a distant from time to time.)

Turn out the light
A lover's finger tips
Warm and passionate
A clamped oyster shell
Wet and slippery

The rain outside
And a movie classic
A breeze of wind
The smell of wet earth
Mixed with lavender scent

SCENE 2
(Late Morning. Mug of hot coffee on the back terrace. A breeze of wind blows at a newly wet hair fresh from the shower. Scripts from a half done novel on the table, suspended by a several fresh water oyster shells. The sound of Michael Frank from a vinyl being played )

Loosely worn kimono
A peek of soft belly
Its soft fabric
Shaping the curves
And the rounded edges
Scent of lavender
On the smooth skin

SCENE 3
(Half dark air - conditioned room. The rustle of white sheet as cold bare skin seeking comfort and warm underneath. The sound of rain outside. The smell of wet earth flowing through an open bedroom window. A glimpse of Marlon Brando face in an opened cover of Last Tango in Paris DVD.)

Warm breath on a finger tip
The sound of pillows being stacked
The rain outside
Brings the smell of wetness
Lowering guarded feelings
Letting out passionate longing
For touches of pleasures
Just like the rain
Brings wet but warm feelings
On the pond outside
A fish swims underneath the surface
Its skin wet and slippery
Touching the shapes
Tickling the curves
Tingling rounded edges
Exploring inner parts
And like an oyster shell pried open
The round beautiful pearl exposed
Its surface wet and slippery
It is felt and tasted
The taste lingered
On lips and tongue
The smell mixed with lavender scent
The flesh of a loving lover
Reaching final destination
In the center of her universe

Inspired by book 36 Views: A Play, by Naomi Iizuka. Image taken from the book cover design.

South of the Border, West of the Sun.

Novel by Haruki Murakami

Is a fiction about lost love from the past of a Tokyo businessman with his childhood friend. Murakami's literate poetic language tells the story surrounded with an old jazz ambiance. The story takes us inside the quirky mind of Hajime, owner of two successful Jazz clubs in the smartest part of modern Tokyo. Hajime in his mid-life is a husband with two small daughters and have had a happy and wonderful marriage to a daughter of a successful property developer. Yet, he is still haunted with his own insecurities as an only child and longed for a comfort zone that he had founded during his childhood friendship with Shimamoto. Separated with his childhood friend when he was twelve has made Hajime throughout his adult life to search for the same comfort he had found which later he realized to be also an undying childhood romance with Shimamoto. Realizing that he would never again find that kind of the same comfort he felt being with Shimamoto, Hajime then settled down and stopped searching for that missing link to the world that he considered to be the world where he can totally feel at ease with himself. Shimamato turning up again at one of his club one night looking very successful and just as beautiful has lead to a renewed sensualities between the two and the kind of comfort they both missed since their childhood friendship. Certain dark complexities of her past is carried forward by Shimamoto's who is still in her protective shells after all those years. The armor suit she has been wearing to protect her against unwanted intruders from the life around her. The suit she feels she can unbuttoned only when being with Hajime. The story is told in a cool romantic that radiate something of a literate poem about the comfort of a world separated from reality and can be understood only by the two.

This book is available locally at Aksara Prodak book store Kemang, Jakarta.