My keepsake–
look at it and think of me,
and I will love you
through the long years
strung like beads on a string
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
poetry
on what one does not say by Lady Kasa
The world has so many eyes–
though we’re close
as steppingstones in a brook,
I must live with my love unspoken.
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
On a birthday by Ariwara no Narihira
Cherry blossoms,
scatter and hide it,
that road they say
old age comes by–
make him lose his way!
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
On Nunobiki Waterfall by Ariwara no Narihari
Someone must be
unstringing them wildly–
white beads shower down
without pause,
my sleeves too narrow to catch them
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 14 from The Kokinsho
Now summer’s come,
smoky torches at every house
drive away mosquitoes–
and I–how long will I go on
smoldering with love?
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 13 from The Kokinsho
That cuckoo who sang
on and on last summer–
is it he now,
or another,
calling in a voice unchanged?
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
on what one tries to leave behind by Saigyo
Why should my heart
still harbor
this passion for cherry flowers,
I who thought
I had put all that behind me?
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
anonymous tanka 12 from The Kokinshu
If I’d known
it was old age calling,
I’d have locked the door,
said “No one home!”
and refused to see him.
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
poem by Otomo Surugamaro from The Man’yoshu
Again and again I think of her–
. . .a thousand waves
. . . .lapping my heart
. . . . .in a single day–
yet how hard it is to wrap that jewel
. . . . .around my wrist.
translated by Ian Hideo Levy
poem 2 by Otomo no Yakamochi from The Man’yoshu
If longing were a thing
one could die from,
death would have come to me
. . . . .and come again
a thousand times!
translated by Ian Hideo Levy
Leonard Durso 