Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Mitsuharu Kaneko

The Lighthouse

You must not peer into the sky’s depths.
In the sky’s depths
gods are jostling one another like white-eyes.

Drifting in the candy-like ether,
an angel’s armpit hair.
A hawk’s feathers.

The smell of the gods’ skin as fierce as bronze burning. The scale. (1)

You must not stare at the sky’s depths.
Your eyes would be burned and crushed by the light.

That which comes down from the sky’s depths is the power that encompasses
eternity.

The punishment
for those who go against the sky.

Only devout souls ascend.
Standing erect in the mist of the sky,
a single white candle.
—the lighthouse.

燈台 一

燈台 一

そらのふかさをのぞいてはいけない。
そらのふかさには、
神さまたちがめじろおししてゐる。

飴のやうなエーテルにたゞよふ、
天使の脇毛。
鷹のぬけ毛。

青銅(からかね)の灼けるやうな凄じい神さまたちのはだのにほひ。
秤(かんかん)。

そらのふかさをみつめてはいけない。
その眼はひかりでやきつぶされる。

そらのふかさからおりてくるものは、永劫にわたる
権力だ。

そらにさからふものへの
刑罰だ。

信心深いたましひだけがのぼる
そらのまんなかにつったった、
いっぽんのしろい蝋燭。
——燈台。
Close

The Lighthouse

You must not peer into the sky’s depths.
In the sky’s depths
gods are jostling one another like white-eyes.

Drifting in the candy-like ether,
an angel’s armpit hair.
A hawk’s feathers.

The smell of the gods’ skin as fierce as bronze burning. The scale. (1)

You must not stare at the sky’s depths.
Your eyes would be burned and crushed by the light.

That which comes down from the sky’s depths is the power that encompasses
eternity.

The punishment
for those who go against the sky.

Only devout souls ascend.
Standing erect in the mist of the sky,
a single white candle.
—the lighthouse.

The Lighthouse

You must not peer into the sky’s depths.
In the sky’s depths
gods are jostling one another like white-eyes.

Drifting in the candy-like ether,
an angel’s armpit hair.
A hawk’s feathers.

The smell of the gods’ skin as fierce as bronze burning. The scale. (1)

You must not stare at the sky’s depths.
Your eyes would be burned and crushed by the light.

That which comes down from the sky’s depths is the power that encompasses
eternity.

The punishment
for those who go against the sky.

Only devout souls ascend.
Standing erect in the mist of the sky,
a single white candle.
—the lighthouse.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère