A Gentle Drip

The drips of a fountain outside Meiji Shrine in Yogogi Park, downtown Tokyo.

*Plop*

The drop loudly shatters both the silence of the air and surface of the water. Ripples cast out towards the rim of the basin, pushing the first and furthest ripple over the edge. A gentle and nearly silent hush permeates the air, as the calm water seeps slowly down the surface of the rock to the floor.

*Plop*

The sequence repeats itself

*Plop*

Large black crows overhead, the largest I have seen. The murder caws and cackles as it shifts from tree to tree. Jet black, coal black, so black, Shinto spirits perhaps? The trees tower, thick and ancient, the park seems out of place in this city. Alone, vast, forgotten, wild. It’s twilight, and strips of sunlight are all that’s left of the day. My shutter clicks.

*Plop*

The sequence repeats itself

*Plop*

The gentle drip accompanies the wind as it brushes past the leaves of trees, both young spring buds and long dead remnants of an old season. The rhythmic hush, like calming ocean waves of the forest. Lanterns begin to blaze to combat the encroaching darkness, a path is lit, and the electric din of the lights is not audible yet still heard. Occasionally a patron of the temple or a guest of the park will steal the water’s drops, creating a gap in the pattern. They wash their hands, cleanse themselves, and rinse away impurities; chouzuya they call it. The ladle is hung, and humbly they enter the shrine.

*Plop*

The sequence repeats itself…

07 Mar This entry was published on March 7, 2013 at 2:44 am. It’s filed under Black and White, macro, Nature and tagged black, black and white, cademartori, close-up, digital, drip, drop, endless, frame, frank, holga, japan, macro, meiji, park, photo, photography, shrine, splash, tokyo, twilight, water, white, yogogi. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.