Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Kiyoko Nagase

Aphorisms

Nihilism’s Corpse

Nihilism 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.

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Aphorisms

Nihilism’s Corpse

Nihilism 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.

Aphorisms

Nihilism’s Corpse

Nihilism 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.
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