Poem
Tian Yuan
Memory
Human memory is like watermurmuring in a culvert.
It goes on flowing until death
with no sense of tiredness.
Historic memory, like the sea,
never vanishes.
Even if earth should crumble
it would flow to another star.
God’s memory
remains forever silent,
like the speechless sky
even if truth is violated.
The memory of the war is a graveyard
to be swallowed up by quicksand.
Even if missile fragments were to rust and disintegrate
sorrow would remain.
Trees cannot remember their verdure.
Though they try to hide everything in their growth rings
they are subject to the saw.
© Translation: 2010, William I. Elliott and Kazuo Kawamura
MEMORY
© 2009, Tian Yuan
From: Ishi no kioku (The Memory of Stone)
Publisher: Shichosha, Tokyo
From: Ishi no kioku (The Memory of Stone)
Publisher: Shichosha, Tokyo
Poems
Poems of Tian Yuan
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Memory
Human memory is like watermurmuring in a culvert.
It goes on flowing until death
with no sense of tiredness.
Historic memory, like the sea,
never vanishes.
Even if earth should crumble
it would flow to another star.
God’s memory
remains forever silent,
like the speechless sky
even if truth is violated.
The memory of the war is a graveyard
to be swallowed up by quicksand.
Even if missile fragments were to rust and disintegrate
sorrow would remain.
Trees cannot remember their verdure.
Though they try to hide everything in their growth rings
they are subject to the saw.
© 2010, William I. Elliott and Kazuo Kawamura
From: Ishi no kioku (The Memory of Stone)
From: Ishi no kioku (The Memory of Stone)
Memory
Human memory is like watermurmuring in a culvert.
It goes on flowing until death
with no sense of tiredness.
Historic memory, like the sea,
never vanishes.
Even if earth should crumble
it would flow to another star.
God’s memory
remains forever silent,
like the speechless sky
even if truth is violated.
The memory of the war is a graveyard
to be swallowed up by quicksand.
Even if missile fragments were to rust and disintegrate
sorrow would remain.
Trees cannot remember their verdure.
Though they try to hide everything in their growth rings
they are subject to the saw.
© 2010, William I. Elliott and Kazuo Kawamura
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