Author Archives: Radutti

drip At first the faucet has a spartan – yet not beyond notice – leak. At first. drip The reports begin here and there News outlets making a couple extra bucks with a couple extra baits. drip Wuhan has shut things down. People in China can’t leave their homes. drip First case in Korea. First […]

The ramen shop is perfect for these times It’s late, or early, depending on how you look at it. And we need noodles. We step off the street and pass through a deserted lobby. A flight of red stairs and a quick bend, and we’re passing under the hanging red fabric marking the entrance. Irrashaimasse! […]

the alley is impossible Impossibly narrow, impossibly long, and impossibly home, to hundreds. Elephant is undaunted. His used new bike has opened all options It offers the impossible Shows him what could be He pauses, sizing up, weighing possibility Are you sure you want to go that way? It’s pretty tight He doesn’t respond, just […]

The echo catches me as I approach the lake At first, I’m not sure where it’s coming from or what it might be. A massive hive of ornery bees A power drill prepped for duty A downed power line A drone, preparing to buzz the tower All seem unrealistic, or at least misguided When I […]

Four perfect, round, stainless, large silver cylinders invite wonder Hollow cans offer a peek through, if you find the proper angle. Randomly scattered against a rapidly oxidizing fence, snaking the perimeter of the lake, they grab my eye, here and there. I notice one can. Then, meters later, another. And then, a few paces forward, […]

We don’t push too hard Making our way around the 17k loop, endless coffee shops, conical hatted flower sellers, the mist-shrouded lake always on our right On a clear day, we can see straight across. Today, the mist encompasses all. But, even today, there is so much to see here We pause at the ornate, […]

The stout man swaggers down the impossibly narrow lane Black hair, cropped short, white mask, tied tight. He is unconcerned With me, with the stray dog meandering by, with a task that demands little – but receives all – of his attention. An indifference to anything else. With precise intent, he drops the blue plastic […]

The faded pink horse and yellow butterfly are deserted Suspended just above the ground on the rusty swing set, they creak with promise in the breeze But not a kid in sight We take a chance that the narrow pathway is a short cut, not a dead end. And, this time, we are lucky. We […]

I slide out of the steady stream of motorbikes and ease my scooter onto the tiled sidewalk. I halt, and peek. The hotel where we landed so gently months ago on the left. The low plastic chairs, stainless tables, steaming giant metal pot where we had our first true pho, dead ahead. This is a […]