Poem
Kazuko Shiraishi
SUMMER TIME – THE FULL MOON FOUR DAYS AFTER JULY 27TH
my mother silently went to heaven four days agoand tonight is the full moon
my mother quietly completed her work
the last penance called living
when she breathed in and exhaled as though teaching
as far back as to the Inca Empire
the thin river of her life
trembled like a thread
now everything is fine
she is happier than the moon she does not have to wander about
among the dark clouds
she does not have to shine serenely
and slowly leave
she has obtained the permanence
of her existence by not existing ah
I forgot to say, thank you because your leaving
this world was too soon and too quiet a sigh
what is called permanence is transient
because it only exists inside me
in this finite inside
infinity that is a permanence is now
floating
ah full moon
please shine
on my beloved my mother
please flutter
like a spring breeze
quietly over the repose of her soul
like
drops of light
© Translation: 2009, Yumiko Tsumura and Samuel Grolmes
From: My Floating Mother, City
Publisher: New Directions, New York, 2009
From: My Floating Mother, City
Publisher: New Directions, New York, 2009
SUMMER TIME VOLLE MAAN VIER DAGEN NA 27 JULI
moeder steeg zwijgend ten hemel vier dagen geledenen vanavond is het full moon volle maan
moeder voltooide stilletjes haar taak
de laatste boetedoening die leven heet
het inademen het uitademen alsof die leerstelling
helemaal tot aan het Incarijk zou reiken
de maan van haar tere leven
trilde als een draad
het is goed zo
zij is gelukkiger dan de maan tussen die donkere wolken
hoeft zij niet te dwalen
ze hoeft niet sereen te stralen
niet rustig heen te gaan
door niet te bestaan heeft zij de eeuwigheid van het bestaan
verkregen o,
dank je wel ben ik vergeten te zeggen want jouw vertrek
uit deze wereld was too soon een al te stille zucht
eeuwigheid is broos
want zij bestaat alleen binnenin mij
in dit eindige binnenin
drijft een oneindigheid dat wil zeggen eeuwigheid nu
los
o full moon
schijn toch alsjeblieft
op mijn geliefde mijn moeder
wapper alsjeblieft
als een lentebries
over haar zielenrust
als
druppels licht
© Vertaling: 2009, Ivo Smits
© 2004, Kazuko Shiraishi
From: The Running of the Full Moon
Publisher: Hon-ami Shoten, Tokyo
From: The Running of the Full Moon
Publisher: Hon-ami Shoten, Tokyo
Poems
Poems of Kazuko Shiraishi
Close
SUMMER TIME – THE FULL MOON FOUR DAYS AFTER JULY 27TH
my mother silently went to heaven four days agoand tonight is the full moon
my mother quietly completed her work
the last penance called living
when she breathed in and exhaled as though teaching
as far back as to the Inca Empire
the thin river of her life
trembled like a thread
now everything is fine
she is happier than the moon she does not have to wander about
among the dark clouds
she does not have to shine serenely
and slowly leave
she has obtained the permanence
of her existence by not existing ah
I forgot to say, thank you because your leaving
this world was too soon and too quiet a sigh
what is called permanence is transient
because it only exists inside me
in this finite inside
infinity that is a permanence is now
floating
ah full moon
please shine
on my beloved my mother
please flutter
like a spring breeze
quietly over the repose of her soul
like
drops of light
© 2009, Yumiko Tsumura and Samuel Grolmes
From: My Floating Mother, City
Publisher: 2009, New Directions, New York
From: My Floating Mother, City
Publisher: 2009, New Directions, New York
SUMMER TIME – THE FULL MOON FOUR DAYS AFTER JULY 27TH
my mother silently went to heaven four days agoand tonight is the full moon
my mother quietly completed her work
the last penance called living
when she breathed in and exhaled as though teaching
as far back as to the Inca Empire
the thin river of her life
trembled like a thread
now everything is fine
she is happier than the moon she does not have to wander about
among the dark clouds
she does not have to shine serenely
and slowly leave
she has obtained the permanence
of her existence by not existing ah
I forgot to say, thank you because your leaving
this world was too soon and too quiet a sigh
what is called permanence is transient
because it only exists inside me
in this finite inside
infinity that is a permanence is now
floating
ah full moon
please shine
on my beloved my mother
please flutter
like a spring breeze
quietly over the repose of her soul
like
drops of light
© 2009, Yumiko Tsumura and Samuel Grolmes
From: My Floating Mother, City
Publisher: 2009, New Directions, New York
From: My Floating Mother, City
Publisher: 2009, New Directions, New York
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