Waiting for my friend last night, and having nothing better to do, I rooted through my bag and pulled out this little pocket sized book of words and pictures 嘘をつけばよかった by local artist Ashida Mellow and the poet Esu Toyohara.

I picked this up in Neutron Cafe last weekend on the same friend’s recommendation. Now I find reading long articles in Japanese somewhat overwhelming, but these little thought-provoking poems are ideal for quiet study when you have a few moments to kill. Here’s one that I particularly liked, because I think we’ve all experienced this kind of pointless relationship:

勝ったり負けたりする会話私達はきっと
友達じゃないんだろ

Winning and losing conversations

We are not really friends at all are we?