What are you trying to say?
Rainfall on the plateau
desolately striking the keyboard of night,
the dark sky about to fall asleep
in the puddle over there,
even the chirping of the crickets
leaking out through my thin fingers
Oh, what are you trying to say?
(from his collection Dream Fragments)
夜
君は何を言はうとするのか
高原の雨音は
淋しく夜の鍵盤をうち
そこらの水溜りに
暗い夜空がねむらうとし
虫の声さへ
かぼそき指の間からもれ出る
ああ、君は何を言はうとするのか。
Autumn flowers
sway on the mountain path in the morning,
a lonely-looking dragonfly
drifts into tomorrow overflowing with color,
a copper-faced mountain hermit
conceals the sound of cutting grass,
oh, this passing quiet landscape
I wish I could put it in a sky-blue envelope
and send it to your soft lap.
(from his collection Dream Fragments)
山路の朝
秋の草花は
山路の朝に揺れる、
淋しげなる蜻蛉が
こぼれそめた朝日を流れる、
赤銅の顔をした山人が
草刈る音をしのばせる、
ああ、かかる静かなる風景を
空色の封筒に入れ
君が柔かき膝に送りたいよ。
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。
Stop your fretting, that’s enough
Today’s passing yesterday by
Stop listening to yesterday, that’s enough
Today has passed, you have tomorrow
You’ve got to say something
Try to be a good, obedient kid
And you’ll never understand
Get through today
Start living for tomorrow
Stop clinging to the past, that’s enough
Today’s already yesterday
Stop acting so proper, that’s enough
Tomorrow’s already yesterday
You’ve got to say something
Try to be a good, obedient kid
And you’ll never understand
Get through today
Start living for tomorrow
Original lyrics:
くよくよするのはもうやめさ
今日はきのうを越えている
きのうに聞くのももうやめさ
今日を越えた明日がある
何とでも云うがいいさ
よい子でいたいお利口さん
あんたにゃわかるまい
今日をのりこえて
明日に生きることなんか
しがみつくのはもうやめさ
今日もきのうになっちまう
利□ぶるのももうやめさ
明日もきのうになっちまう
何とでも云うがいいさ
よい子でいたいお利口さん
あんたにゃわかるまい
今日をのりこえて
明日に生きることなんか
Suddenly it’s like I’m not myself anymore
Like a leaf fluttering in the wind, like a boat set adrift
To get back to myself again
I’m bidding farewell to the world I know and taking a trip
I want to believe, so I’ll keep going uncertainly
Alone on the long journey to freedom
Another day on the long journey to freedom
I don’t know where this road leads
I only know that I’ll finally get somewhere
What kind of place will it be?
What will I find there?
Without knowing, all alone, I’m bidding farewell and taking a trip
I want to believe, so I’ll keep going uncertainly
Alone on the long journey to freedom
Another day on the long journey to freedom
Original lyrics:
いつのまにか私が 私でないような
枯葉が風に舞うように 小舟がただようように
私がもう一度 私になる為に
育ててくれた 世界に別れを告げて旅立つ
信じたいために うたがいつづける
自由への長い旅を一人
自由への長い旅を今日も
この道がどこを とおるのか知らない
知っているのは たどりつくところが
あることだけ
そこがどこになるのか
そこでなにがあるのか
わからないまま一人で別れを告げて 旅立つ
信じたいために うたがいつづける
自由への長い旅を一人
自由への長い旅を今日も
Nobuyasu Okabayashi is a Japanese folk singer whose career dates back to the late 1960s. His style and social and political messaging quickly drew comparisons to Bob Dylan, an artist he covered early on in his career. This song is taken from his 1970 album 見るまえに跳べ (Leap Before You Look), which featured the newly-formed Happy End, who became one of Japan’s most famous folk-rock groups, as his backing band. The entire album can be heard on YouTube (highly recommended).
little Taku’s
first calligraphy this year
a giant oval
拓チャンの書初め大いなる楕円
fig trees
gods or buddha
never saw them
無花果や神も仏も見たことなし
moonlit pillar
if you want to bloom
be my guest
月の夜の柱よ咲きたいならどうぞ
under cherry blossoms
I do not wait to see
if they fall
桜の下散るか散るまで待てません
she is prettier
than I am
the tubifex worm
私より彼女が綺麗糸みみず
All poems originally appeared in Japanese at the Gendai Haiku Association Database (http://www.haiku-data.jp/).
plum flowers
every single one
radioactive
梅一輪一輪ずつの放射能
I wish I had
a telescope that could see
the autumn wind
秋風の見える望遠鏡が欲し
living together
with a single goldfish
raining in Ginza
いっぴきの金魚と暮らす銀座に雨
old scarecrow
crying out something
in the wind
案山子翁何か叫びぬ風の中
NOTE: Haiku taken from the Gendai Haiku Association Database (http://www.haiku-data.jp/).
When I Die, Then That’s Goodbye
Lyrics: Mariko Goto
When I die, stop the clock
and wind it back to when we were together
Sometimes we fought, sometimes we laughed
I still think about those days we spent together
When I die, turn off the light
so I won’t see you crying,
“It’s cruel being left behind”
so I won’t see you crying alone
The evening sun flickers red on the face of the water
A lonely cat’s corpse–“Found it,” I laughed–and
the light came shining down
When I die, will someone please
swap out that one string on my red guitar?
It’s a good guitar with a few quirks
Could someone swap out that string for me?
The light came shining down
When I die, forget about me
It’s okay if you hold hands with someone I don’t know
but just remember me a little bit
Just remember the day I died
When I die and many years have passed,
I know you’ll forget about me
but just remember me a little bit
Just remember the day I died
The evening sun flickers red on the face of the water
A lonely cat’s corpse reminds me of someone
The light came shining down
When I die . . .
NOTES: Mariko Goto, famous for her work with the Japanese punk rock band Midori, started out as vocalist and guitarist of Usagi (Rabbit). Thanks to Andrew White for pointing me in the direction of Usagi’s album. Great find. Original Japanese lyrics below.
『死んだらそれでサヨウナラ』
詩・曲 後藤まり子
僕が死んだら時計をとめて
君と2人で過ごした時に戻そう
たまにケンカをして笑いあっていた
2人で過ごした日々を今も覚えてる
僕が死んだら明かりを消して
君の泣く姿を見ずにおこう
「残されるのはツライから」と
1人で泣く君の姿を見ずにおこう
夕方の赤は 水面に揺れる揺れる
寂しげな猫の死骸 「見つけた」 笑う そして
キラキラと光って落ちてった
僕が死んだら赤いギターの
弦は一体誰が変えてくれるのか
ちょっと癖のあるいいヤツだから
誰かあいつをかわいがってやってくれ
キラキラと光って落ちてった
僕が死んだら早く忘れて
僕の知らない誰かと手をとりあえばいい でも
ちょっとくらいは覚えててよ
僕の死んだ日くらいは覚えててよ
僕が死んで何年か過ぎたら
君は僕の事を忘れてしまうだろう でも
ちょっとくらいは覚えててよ
僕が死んだ日くらいは覚えててよ
夕方の赤は 水面に揺れる揺れる
寂しげな猫の死骸 誰かに似ている それは
キラキラと光って落ちてった
僕が死んだら．．．。
in the light
of the cold moon the darkness
of distant stars
寒月のひかりにとほき星の闇 松村蒼石
NOTE: Original Japanese-language poem taken from the Gendai Haiku Association Web site: http://www.haiku-data.jp/
Entry No. 1 