KEIKO KOMA net

22 Mar. 2012

Wind of Phoenicia

Last night I held a gathering of poems to celebrate the completion of my new poetry photo book about four seasons in Kyoto. While I have started to prepare the next one about Phoenicia I have always been carrying with me its draft texts and photos as I left Tokyo. Recently I eventually felt like being visited by a wind of Phoenicia and was motivated to go to Lebanon as soon as possible. While I looked for a good Lebanese restaurant in vain I said to my staff that the best Lebanese restaurant in Japan was the residence of the ambassador of Lebanon. I recalled that its chef a lady from the Philippines replied to me with a full smiling face that she prepared dishes from a sincere heart when I asked her if there was any secret for making wonderful food. Also I recalled a special lunch I was invited to at the home of a parliament member in Bint Jibeil that was situated near the border with Israel and was largely destroyed by the bombings. They received us with great hospitality and asked us to hold our concert there entitled “Messages from Mother Earth” as numerous innocent people had been killed. Though in the beginning I was rather nervous of its atmosphere of war dominating everywhere in the city, as I had delicious hand-made dishes one after another I became filled with love and realized the warmth of their heart. My heart became liberated from a tension and became wide open. I realized the importance of expressing love under any difficult situation. Therefore Lebanese dishes always made me realize love. People prepared healthy and delicious food wishing for the wellbeing of their family members and intimate friends. By a marvelous coincidence Mr. Ambassador of Lebanon called me and invited me for a lunch, and today over Lebanese dishes that were full of love we discussed the situation of the world and the Middle East countries. My heart became wide open and was greatly encouraged to pave a way for an authentic peace all over the world. Now that I was heading for a very crucial moment for changing the world, I would remain sincere to the richness of our internality.