Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Hiroshi Kawasaki

A SONG OF LONGING FOR

I long for a very skilful midwife,

for everything
to be neatly settled
by a quarrel,

and for a naked horse to walk along this way
from a street corner.

I long for no such thing
as a pension,

and even fires to break out as usual
with a keen-sighted man watching in the watchtower.
“A whale-shark!
Let’s get it!”
Sallying forth on their boats,
they find the sea’s surface boiling silver all over
and a lot of bonitos
caught.

Men and women
always sweating,
chasing and being chased
with sparkling laughter . . .

with no need to mention
how wonderful that is.

A SONG OF LONGING FOR

Close

A SONG OF LONGING FOR

I long for a very skilful midwife,

for everything
to be neatly settled
by a quarrel,

and for a naked horse to walk along this way
from a street corner.

I long for no such thing
as a pension,

and even fires to break out as usual
with a keen-sighted man watching in the watchtower.
“A whale-shark!
Let’s get it!”
Sallying forth on their boats,
they find the sea’s surface boiling silver all over
and a lot of bonitos
caught.

Men and women
always sweating,
chasing and being chased
with sparkling laughter . . .

with no need to mention
how wonderful that is.

A SONG OF LONGING FOR

I long for a very skilful midwife,

for everything
to be neatly settled
by a quarrel,

and for a naked horse to walk along this way
from a street corner.

I long for no such thing
as a pension,

and even fires to break out as usual
with a keen-sighted man watching in the watchtower.
“A whale-shark!
Let’s get it!”
Sallying forth on their boats,
they find the sea’s surface boiling silver all over
and a lot of bonitos
caught.

Men and women
always sweating,
chasing and being chased
with sparkling laughter . . .

with no need to mention
how wonderful that is.
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