Holland (An Invitation for Kazumi) by Lori Yamamoto

[Verse 1 - The Photo] I saw your picture. A Holland in Japan. Windmills and tulips. You stood beside the wooden shoes. I thought: she understands. She knows the mask. [Verse 2 - The Invitation] Come to our Holland. Not the one in Japan. The one with Lake Michigan. The dunes. The Big Red Lighthouse. The windmill that turns slowly. [Verse 3 - The Lake] Lake Michigan is big. Just water. Just sky. The pier stretches out and stops. The lake goes to the horizon. The light is different here. [Verse 4 - The Flute] I think you would like the way the wind moves through the tulips. It sounds like a flute playing a slow note. Not "Hocus Pocus." Just the wind. [Verse 5 - The Focus] I know you carry Focus with you. The yodel. The classical lines. The aggression in the fingers. I have heard you play. You are very good. [Verse 6 - The Masks] We wear masks here too. The Dutch mask. The tulip mask. The mask of the lake. But you know about masks. You have worn the Dutch mask in Japan. [Verse 7 - The Full Circle] It would be a full circle. From Japan to Holland to Holland again. The water is the same water. Just a different shore. Just a different light. [Verse 8 - The Walking] We could walk along Eighth Street. Eat a lemon ice. Watch the sunset turn the lighthouse orange and gold. You could play your flute. I could listen. [Verse 9 - The Smallness] I do not know if you will come. But I wanted to ask. Holland is not a big city. It is a small city with a big lake. And a windmill that turns very slowly. [Verse 10 - The Slowness] I think you would like the slowness. After the speed of Tokyo. After the precision of the studio. Just water. Just sky. [Outro] Just a woman with a flute and a woman with a song standing on the pier. That is the invitation.