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.
Entry No. 1 