[Hitoiro Exhibition 2023] Writing letters with blue ink

"Please fill out using a black or blue ballpoint pen."

A note written in small print in the corner of official documents. In Japan, the majority of people would likely choose black, but it seems blue is actually popular overseas.
They say it has excellent visibility, and it certainly is clearer than black.

When I started corresponding by letter, I chose a blue ballpoint pen.
Black would have been fine, but I suppose I thought it was too mundane.
I joined a community and crafted "nice to meet you" letters to people who caught my interest. I think I wrote about five at once.
Thrilled by the "nice to meet you" replies from them, I spun all sorts of stories.

A place where I knew no one. I wore myself out to earn a living. I used that as capital to survive and blend into society.
Feelings I couldn't even understand myself just kept piling up, and I was driven by an urge to break away and gain freedom.

• Blue is pain—I wanted someone to share it with.

• Blue is worry—I wanted someone to listen to me.

• Blue is affection—I wanted to share my dreams.

As we grew closer, words overflowed without stagnation.
It didn't take long for the entire letter paper to turn blue.

By the time my ballpoint pen ran out of ink, I had over ten pen pals.
What was the last thing I wrote? I feel like it was something like a poem.
Ink is rain that washes away feelings that have accumulated too much. Where it flowed became a bond, leaving footprints behind in silence.

Today, too, I am living"modestly, resiliently, and firmly."I dedicate this pure and human-like blue to my friends far away—

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