A POEM BY JAPANESE POET YOSHIMOTO TAKAAKI

yoshimoto takaaki

 

 

 

                         POSSESSION

 

 

                     Our words are charming.

 

                    "Flesh," once said;

 

                    we immediately cling to the earth.

 

                    "Spirit," if spoken;

 

                    we are already flying.

 

 

                    Our souls belong

 

                    to gravity and buoyancy,

 

                    to suspicion and aspiration.

 

                   The world is made of coercion,

 

                   causes and mistakes,

 

                   but surely, a blue the same as the sky

 

                   hangs deep in our skulls.

 

 

                   Otherwise,

 

                   standing on fragile legs,

 

                   how could we ride the image of wings

 

                   to possess endlessly higher places.

 

 

 

                                 ---Yoshimoto Takaaki

                                                (1924-2012)

                                        tr Kijima Hajime

                                        and Nagatomo Shigenori