“Autumn on the Plateau” by Kawamoto Rokuseki

Autumn on the Plateau

Day after day the cold wind drifts through
Consider the gloomy plateau
cold creatures stained red with blood
wander beyond the darkening hill
Autumn on the plateau
time gets colder, heavier, accumulating
into the shape of a lonely red dragonfly
that drifts along without knowing where it’s going.

(From his collection Dream Fragments)

高原の秋

日毎に冷い風が流れる
薄暗い高原を思へ
赤く血に染つた冷い生物が
暮れゆく丘陵のかなたに彷徨ふ
高原の秋の
段々と冷く重くかさみゆく時
寂しき赤とんぼの形にて
ゆくへも知らず流れゆくものを。