Sustain

June 10, 2024 • Monique Hayes

A day after the building manager removed the kanji from the furniture store window, I saw the letters still trying to live. The faint announcements were less loud but I could still spy the outline of them over the English word “dye.” Faded Japanese characters about discounts remained visible if you cocked your head just right under the streetlights of East First Street. Maybe only artists notice these things, or a grieving son clinging to his father’s last clarinet note. …