Ruin has long been my lover, my companion.
From the bottom of the abyss, the night sky above appeared as though a tear in
the universe itself had exhaled its blackness—
and it was unspeakably beautiful.
That darkness enfolded all, leveled all, erased all.
Kings and slaves, priests and criminals, rich and poor—
it buried them equally in its shadow.
I loved the tenderness of that darkness.
And compared to this, what of the surface?
Cities drowning in floods of light.
Advertisements hammering the brain without rest,
stoking desire without pause, day or night.
What parades there is not progress.
It is corrosion dressed as brilliance,
numbness clothed in sweetness.
I had always known that man clings to the past out of fear.
But modern man clings still deeper to pleasure out of fear.
Pleasure is the absolute monarch of our age.
The monarchs of old ruled with swords;
today’s rulers need only alcohol and a small glowing screen.
Look—at the crowds in the streets.
Each heart enthralled by its rectangular oracle,
entrusting itself to the endless stream of images and signals.
Fine cuisine, travel, viral videos, scenic views, stylish fashion, trending
posts—
and then more cuisine again.
It is no chain but a silken rope.
Painless, and therefore inescapable.
Once, people spoke of “sharing joy and hardship.”
Now, they think only of sharing joy.
To share suffering would be madness.
And so friendship and love collapse into commodities,
exchangeable for units of pleasure.
But the swamp of pleasure is not infinite.
The waterline will recede.
Sediment and rot will surface.
And then—only then—will the people realize
they had been submerged to the neck in filth all along.
I gaze upward from the abyss.
From the abyss, with love.
The darkness exhaled from the universe’s wound is exquisite beyond
compare.
That darkness will one day swallow whole
the counterfeit lights of the surface—
lights built of hypocrisy and ornament.
—So hold your breath not, steel yourself.
The end approaches, and it is thicker than perfume.
This is the English version of the article → Japanese version（日本語版）