Fuji -- Banshun

富士 . . . 晩春



美

かくも単純に

かくも無意味に

常にあり

常にあり続ける

たとえ山々が揺れ動いても。

神々が自らの喜びとして創られた

自らの像として

美として。



大倉純一郎訳

カイ・ニエミネン選詩集　「森で誰かが．．．」　（本多企画　宮崎　2000）　より

-- Kai Nieminen

Amish Druid, 1967

San Francisco Oracle, Vol. 1, #7

strange women approach me

strange women approach me on the bus
wanting to know my business
they’re subtle
asking for directions
asking for a cigarette
don’t they know you can’t smoke on the bus?

might be social workers
might be ladies of the night
might be a honey trap
you never know
when you’re riding the bus

that’s why I just say no
keep staring ahead in the distance
watching the streets go by
and the people dancing
murals, coffee shops, hair braiding salons

and days go by

you see women on the bus
you think you recognize
exotic women in rain ponchos
with the Chinese character for “the way”
(in Japanese “michi”)

when you get a little closer
it’s some football logo
you feel foolish for having asked
“why are you wearing ‘michi’ on your poncho?”
they must think you’re nuts

that’s why I just say no
when I get the impulse
to talk to strangers
keep staring ahead in the distance
watching the streets go by

--Ross Bender

gone far to the northeast . . .

tsune yori mo
kokorobosoku zo
omōyuru
tabi no sora nite
toshi no kurenuru


A forlorn feeling,

this time more sharp than ever:

journeying along

under a vast sky where I see

the old year sink to its close.

--Saigyō, tr. William R. LaFleur