Fifteen Poets of Modern Japan/Akiko Yanagiwara
Akiko Yanagiwara
1
For love of the moon
The sea ebbs and flows.
How long their love endures!
The sea ebbs and flows.
How long their love endures!
2
When the rain falls,
You, toad,
Go dragging yourself slowly about.
You are one of the riddles of the universe.
You, toad,
Go dragging yourself slowly about.
You are one of the riddles of the universe.
3
For the sake of this dull life
All day long have I spoken lies
And listened to lies.
All day long have I spoken lies
And listened to lies.
4
To the laws and conventions of man
I offer no word—
Only tears.
I offer no word—
Only tears.
5
For a moment only did I dream
As I lay napping.
Have a hundred years passed by?
As I lay napping.
Have a hundred years passed by?
6
What is jealousy?
What is love?
A shadow that comes
And goes.
What is love?
A shadow that comes
And goes.
7
I am not going.
I am not returning.
I am not staying.
Am I alive or dead?
I am not returning.
I am not staying.
Am I alive or dead?
8
I am here.
Where is God?
It is night,
And the lonely stars are twinkling.
Where is God?
It is night,
And the lonely stars are twinkling.
9
I curse the sadness of my bottomless heart
That made the song called “I.”
That made the song called “I.”
10
The incense smoke,
Rising and wavering,
Thins and dissolves.
My heart goes with it.
Rising and wavering,
Thins and dissolves.
My heart goes with it.