in a city called City
everything
broke melted
washed away
,
LOVE
EGO
and of course
WOR
DS
,
when they broke
strangely bright
it was very
beautiful
;
what didn’t melt
was
merely
st
on
e
_________________
まち と いう まち では
すべて が
つぶれて とけて
ながれて いた
，
ＬＯＶＥ が
ＥＧＯ が
そして もちろん
コトバ
が
，
つぶれる とき
あやしく ひかって
とても
きれいで
；
とけぬ もの は
ただの
いしころ
で
し
た
NOTES:
The original Japanese language poem was taken from the Jikkoku Osamu Corner.
My son came by for the first time in a while
“Mom, want me to open a beer?”
“Sure, they’re not cold yet, though”
I set down one of the beers I’d picked up at the store in front of my son
And took out a corkscrew
My son picked up the corkscrew in his hands
And I watched as his hands removed the cork
Saying, “Glasses!” he jumped up
And took out two glasses
My son’s hands gave one glass to me
And I watched as they filled it with beer
Then they filled the glass in front of him
Giving a little toast
He said “Well,” threw back his glass in a gulp,
“I’m in a rush, so I’ll see you later”
“I see” After saying goodbye to my son, all I
Could think about was looking at his hands
My son’s hands were beautiful
The hands of a man just turned thirty
Young men’s hands are all beautiful
Smooth, free, strong
Holding my shoulders with his hands
He said, “Well,” and with a salute
He disappeared behind Japan’s waving flags
What did those hands do then?
I will never forget
The shape of all those hands lined up in salute
I wonder if I saw my son’s hands there among them?
No, my son’s hands did not salute
Even though they left enough time for “So long” and “See you later”
I will never forget those beautiful men’s hands
Raised in salute, as they vanished in the distance
NOTES:
Takada Toshiko, picture from http://poemculture.main.jp/takadatoshiko.html
Takada Toshiko (1914-1989) was a poet from Tokyo. She gained attention after publishing “In the Depths of Night’s Fresco” (夜のフラスコの底に) in the magazine New Leaves (若葉) in 1949. In 1967, her collection Wisteria (藤) won the Murou Sansei Poet Award. Her other works include Monday Poems (月曜日の詩集, 1962), Purple Flowers (むらさきの花, 1976), and Dream Hands (夢の手, 1985).
The original Japanese language poem can be found at ポエムコンシェルジュとさがす詩の世界.
The moon appears from behind the clouds
Children breathing softly in their sleep
The moon is born into the sky
and emits a lovely light
Mother left her memories with the tears
that overflowed from her eyes
and drifted away on the wind
When the pampas grass was growing
A tragedy took her away from me
I want her to be alive, to come back alive
I want her to catch me in her arms
The moon shines its light in the grass
On the insects’ hushed voices
The moon shines its light on my palm
Holding a small, pink sakura shell
With promises unfulfilled
My sorrow rises to the sky
As long as there is life left to live
I will live to tell my story
To tell my story
月が 雲の中から現れる
寝息をたてた子供たち
月が 生まれてきたこの空に
かわいい光を放つ
想いを託した涙の滴が
母の目から零れ落ち 零れ落ち
風に乗った
すすきのなる頃 惨劇が
あの人を連れていった
生きて 生きて帰ってほしい
その両手で抱きとめてほしい
月が 照らし出した草の根には
虫たちが声を潜めて
月が 照らし出した手のひらには
小さな薄紅の桜貝
約束を果たせないまま
悲しみは空へ昇ってゆく
生きて 生きて命ある限り
生きて 語り継ぐ
語り継ぐ
NOTES:
Tate Takako, image found at http://listen.jp/store/artist_1171035.htm
Tate Takako (b. 1978) is a singer/songwriter from Iida, Nagano prefecture. She graduated from the Kunitachi College of Music and taught music before becoming a full-time musician. In 2001, she started playing live, and in 2004 her song “Jewel” (「宝石」) was featured in the award-winning Kore-eda Hirokazu film Nobody Knows (誰も知らない), in which she also played a small role as a convenience store clerk. Her albums include Sky (そら, 2004), animals (イキモノタチ, 2007), and Harkitek or ta ayoro (2010).
Place one foot on the water, then, without letting it sink, step with the other foot
And then, without letting that foot sink, step with the first foot again
That’s all that it takes
In theory, it’s really quite simple
But when I give it a try, it’s rather difficult
Every day, I practice at the pond
But I never get any better
Sometimes I think, maybe I’m doing something wrong
Maybe there’s a better, more correct way of doing it
I wish someone would teach me how
But everyone who watches me practice just gives me vague suggestions
Like they don’t really know anything
So I tried asking a fish, Hey, what do you think I should do?
The fish looked up at me, flapping his mouth
“I don’t know, all I can do is swim
Actually, I’m not certain you could call it swimming
I’ve been doing it for a long time, but it feels like I’m still not moving my fins the right way
The true path is long and endlessly deep, and I’ll probably die midway down the path
But when the time comes, I at least want to die pushing forward”
I also tried asking a tadpole, Hey, am I doing something wrong?
Without even looking at me, the tadpole darted around my feet
“Don’t ask me, I’ve got my own problems
They just started growing . . . my arms and legs
But none of my friends have started growing theirs yet
And all of the boys keep staring at my body with their perverted eyes
I don’t know what you should do, sometimes I don’t even know myself”
And so I have no choice but to keep practicing all alone
I’m not sure why, but I feel like I’m almost there
Two days ago, yesterday, and today
It feels like I’m on the verge of grasping something miraculous
Summer comes around, and then winter again
One clear morning, I saw the fish floating dead on the surface
It looked like he was smiling
One bright moonlit night, I saw the tadpole, who had become a little frog, jumping out of the water
She waved at me, and disappeared into a thicket
Trees blossomed, fruit fell
Leaves grew thick, turned red
It’s the start of a new season
I step one foot onto the water
One step, then another
I still can’t do it
But I just know that I’ll get it right tomorrow
NOTES:
Oshima Takeo (b. 1974) is a Japanese poet from Chiba. Please visit Idazuka Makoto’s excellent poetry blog, ポエムコンシェルジュとさがす詩の世界, to see the original Japanese language poem.
Oshima Takeo, image found at http://blog.goo.ne.jp/islander-works
Most of the Jikkoku Osamu poems that I have translated here at Entry No. 1 were taken from Saya Mariho’s Jikkoku Osamu Corner (じっこくおさむコーナー), which, with the permission of Jikkoku’s wife, hosts a good sampling of his poetry. Along with Akiyama Jun’s site, this is one of the only Jikkoku resources available on the internet. I hope everyone who is interested in the work of this amazing, under-read anti-war poet will take the time to visit both of these wonderful sites.
i love this angry boy!
having screamed with all his might
his mouth bends down into a へ
and the corners of his eyes arch up
and look this way mysteriously
i love those eyes like apricot seeds
jutting over his right shoulder
is a thick sword, held up in his left hand
is a thin piece of cut rope
spread out behind him is a sea of flame
this spoiled child puffs out his chest
and i can see
both soles of his tiny feet
through his impudently crossed legs
but i love him, i love him, i love him
you can find images of mischievous children
in ancient iconography
spread throughout asia
the mysterious work of NameLess stonecutters!
carved on the pedestal here:
died july 7th, 1924, age 9
the same age as me,
we were alive at the same time!
on tanabata night
separated from your mother and father, you
were confined within
this small boatshaped stone
when i was in another country
passing through flames
you were standing on the bend
of this hill road
listening to the wind in the pines
black birds flying behind you
when flames were rising
over our hometown —
your sword smashes people’s
endless desire
your rope releases slaves
unties sects
to search for true freedom
humanity’s prayer
this big dream was left
in your little hands
but you will never forgive
the mad dance of the adults
who kill and are killed, who deprive and are deprived
puppets in the shadow of their god mammon
beirut, khorramshahr
warsaw, kabul, phnom penh
saigon, nanjing, hiroshima
and our very own takamatsu
All Utterly Demolished
i’ve come from far away
to stand here before you
and i can’t count the times
i’ve let out a laugh
because soon
i will vanish from this earth
but you
surrounded by moss
your pupil-less eyes
glaring at everything,
you will always remain, unmoved
do you know —
there is a little girl
standing beside you,
ageless and nameless
thousand armed goddess of mercy
nose half broken off
whose hands that were clasped
at her lovely breasts
are gone along with those breasts
who is with you, listening
eyes closed
to the wind in the pines overhead?
today you can see very clearly,
beneath the pine branches
buildings lined up like graves
just beyond our hometown
the vast black sea.
and
in the night
distant altair and vega
will straight away
descend upon
both your heads
HUMANITY SHOULD BE DESTROYED!
NOTES:
This is the angry boy (or myouou, 明王) referred to in the poem. It is also the image on the cover of Jikkoku’s 1984 poetry collection Another Experiment, or Counterpoint (「もう一つの実験または対位法」).
Special thanks goes to Yumi Hori, who cleared up several questions I had about the poem. Without her, this translation would not have been possible.
Please see the original Japanese language poem here. Several other Jikkoku poems, some of which I have translated, can also be found there.
The little garden
of the little rented house
is filled with trees and flowers
greedily planted.
In the summer
the mosquitoes are a pain.
–They only bite me,
ow, ow,
the old woman complains.
She scratches her wrinkled arms,
–Because my blood is younger . . . .
So the old man
holds out his wiry shins
for display. –I’m getting eaten up, too.
The curious mosquitoes
take a look
and the old woman
leers at him.
小さな借家の
小さな庭に
欲張って植えた
木や草花がいっぱい。
夏が来ると
蚊がきつい。
――わたしばっかり刺されて
痒い痒いと
ばあさんがぼやく。
しわしわの腕をこすりながら
――わたしの血の方が若いから・・・・
針金のような脛を
じいさんも
ニョキッと突き出し見せる。――オレもここを喰われた
物好きな蚊
ジロリと
ばあさんは
横目で見る。
and then
after a cold rain
the inchworm of time
stops in the shape
of Ω and
the sky is bright frosted glass,
the air frozen into crystals
it will be lustrous winter
until all the colors of spring
scatter their petals on the ground
even the sparrow song
tumbles down
and bounces ting-a-ling
but doesn’t go very far
それから
つめたい あめ の あと
じかん の シャクトリムシ
が Ω の かたち の まま
とまって しまう と
そら は あかるい すりガラス を,
くうき は クリスタル を はりつめ
はる の マルティカラー は
ちりしいた はなびら まで
つやつやした とうき と なり
ころがりおちる
スズメたち の ことば さえ
ちんちんと はねかえって
どこへも とどかない
two blue swallowtail butterflies
tangled up back to back
beat their wings together
without moving
a long
summer afternoon passes
the roots of the deutzia
grow dim
and
the praying mantis’s
large claws silently
close
in
is love
stronger than death?
it is.
but also
death is stronger than love!
あおい アゲハチョウ ふたつ
あべこべに つながり
はね うちかわし
うごかず
ながい
なつ の ごご が すぎて
ウツギ の ねかた が
うすぐらく なる
と
カマキリ の
おおきな カマ が そっと
ちかづいて
くる
あい は
し よりも つよい か？
つよい さ。
そして また
し は あい よりも つよい！
beautiful sunday
thinking nothing
hearing nothing
letting everything
that floods inside me spill over
little by little my heart
becomes clean
look, sitting over there
that little stone
is having 3 centimeter long dreams
うつくしい ニチヨウビ は
なに も おもわず
なに も きかず
あふれる もの を
ただ あふれさせて いる と
こころ が すこし ずつ
きれいに なる
ほら，あそこ に すわって いる
いしころ も，３センチ ほど の
ちいさい ゆめ を みて いる
Entry No. 1 