Poem
Kiyoko Nagase
Aphorisms
Nihilism’s CorpseNihilism is a deep-sea fish.
When it, in the form of language, surfaces in the sea, it is already lifeless. I detest its corpse like a dirty rag. I hate it.
When a Truck Comes and Runs Over Me
When a truck comes and runs over me, “hungry soul” pops out of my mouth. “Freedom” flows out from my ribs as the incarcerating fence breaks.
Before the truck runs over me, no one can tell me apart from ordinary people.
So I want you to know that writing poetry is as weighty as having a truck run over me. I don’t want you to take it lightly.
What is a Poet?
What is a poet?
A poet must be more honest than anyone else.
In order to speak more honestly than anyone else
about the soul of mankind, about one’s own being
a poet masters lying
Why I Write Poetry
Just as water courses through a plant —
because water dries on a plant’s surface, and
because a plant is a pump drawing water up through its roots —
so does poetry course through me.
If there’s no drying action, the water will not move up.
If there’s no force to pump the water, the water will not circulate.
I have a small pump handle in my mind.
My pump handle lets me draw water from the Earth.
Poetry is
identical to chlorophyll capturing the Sun.
Poetry Needs Rhythm
Poetry needs rhythm not for dancing, but as a tool to carve into the wall of a heart. Rhythm is an ice pick.
© Translation: 2009, Takako Lento
短章集
短章集
From: Tanshoushuh
Publisher: Sichosha, Tokyo
Publisher: Sichosha, Tokyo
Poems
Poems of Kiyoko Nagase
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Aphorisms
Nihilism’s CorpseNihilism is a deep-sea fish.
When it, in the form of language, surfaces in the sea, it is already lifeless. I detest its corpse like a dirty rag. I hate it.
When a Truck Comes and Runs Over Me
When a truck comes and runs over me, “hungry soul” pops out of my mouth. “Freedom” flows out from my ribs as the incarcerating fence breaks.
Before the truck runs over me, no one can tell me apart from ordinary people.
So I want you to know that writing poetry is as weighty as having a truck run over me. I don’t want you to take it lightly.
What is a Poet?
What is a poet?
A poet must be more honest than anyone else.
In order to speak more honestly than anyone else
about the soul of mankind, about one’s own being
a poet masters lying
Why I Write Poetry
Just as water courses through a plant —
because water dries on a plant’s surface, and
because a plant is a pump drawing water up through its roots —
so does poetry course through me.
If there’s no drying action, the water will not move up.
If there’s no force to pump the water, the water will not circulate.
I have a small pump handle in my mind.
My pump handle lets me draw water from the Earth.
Poetry is
identical to chlorophyll capturing the Sun.
Poetry Needs Rhythm
Poetry needs rhythm not for dancing, but as a tool to carve into the wall of a heart. Rhythm is an ice pick.
© 2009, Takako Lento
From: Tanshoushuh
From: Tanshoushuh
Aphorisms
Nihilism’s CorpseNihilism is a deep-sea fish.
When it, in the form of language, surfaces in the sea, it is already lifeless. I detest its corpse like a dirty rag. I hate it.
When a Truck Comes and Runs Over Me
When a truck comes and runs over me, “hungry soul” pops out of my mouth. “Freedom” flows out from my ribs as the incarcerating fence breaks.
Before the truck runs over me, no one can tell me apart from ordinary people.
So I want you to know that writing poetry is as weighty as having a truck run over me. I don’t want you to take it lightly.
What is a Poet?
What is a poet?
A poet must be more honest than anyone else.
In order to speak more honestly than anyone else
about the soul of mankind, about one’s own being
a poet masters lying
Why I Write Poetry
Just as water courses through a plant —
because water dries on a plant’s surface, and
because a plant is a pump drawing water up through its roots —
so does poetry course through me.
If there’s no drying action, the water will not move up.
If there’s no force to pump the water, the water will not circulate.
I have a small pump handle in my mind.
My pump handle lets me draw water from the Earth.
Poetry is
identical to chlorophyll capturing the Sun.
Poetry Needs Rhythm
Poetry needs rhythm not for dancing, but as a tool to carve into the wall of a heart. Rhythm is an ice pick.
© 2009, Takako Lento
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