Poem
Masayo Koike
Invisible Connections II The Bird and the Branch
Onto the elm treeA bird alighted
In the atmosphere
Silently time passed by a matter of degrees
The bird’s weight is being measured by
Someone with an unfamiliar hand
But
Small creature with your pebble’s worth of flesh
You who have wings
Did you have any weight in the first place?
The speed of life
Always resolves into the horizontal
The weight of flesh dangling vertically
Alive, we
Go on living without sensing
The shameless weight of our flesh
Where did the bird go?
Into what place was your airy weight dissolved?
In the clean air whence the bird took wing
Always
The branch sways as if to reply
The branch sways concealing its reply
© Translation: 2006, Leith Morton
From: Masayo Koike: Selected Poems
Publisher: Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2006
From: Masayo Koike: Selected Poems
Publisher: Vagabond Press, Sydney, 2006
INVISIBLE CONNECTIONS II THE BIRD AND THE BRANCH
© 2001, Masayo Koike
From: Ameotoko, Yamaotoko, Mame o hiku otoko
Publisher: Shinchosha, Tokyo
From: Ameotoko, Yamaotoko, Mame o hiku otoko
Publisher: Shinchosha, Tokyo
Poems
Poems of Masayo Koike
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Invisible Connections II The Bird and the Branch
Onto the elm treeA bird alighted
In the atmosphere
Silently time passed by a matter of degrees
The bird’s weight is being measured by
Someone with an unfamiliar hand
But
Small creature with your pebble’s worth of flesh
You who have wings
Did you have any weight in the first place?
The speed of life
Always resolves into the horizontal
The weight of flesh dangling vertically
Alive, we
Go on living without sensing
The shameless weight of our flesh
Where did the bird go?
Into what place was your airy weight dissolved?
In the clean air whence the bird took wing
Always
The branch sways as if to reply
The branch sways concealing its reply
© 2006, Leith Morton
From: Masayo Koike: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2006, Vagabond Press, Sydney
From: Masayo Koike: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2006, Vagabond Press, Sydney
Invisible Connections II The Bird and the Branch
Onto the elm treeA bird alighted
In the atmosphere
Silently time passed by a matter of degrees
The bird’s weight is being measured by
Someone with an unfamiliar hand
But
Small creature with your pebble’s worth of flesh
You who have wings
Did you have any weight in the first place?
The speed of life
Always resolves into the horizontal
The weight of flesh dangling vertically
Alive, we
Go on living without sensing
The shameless weight of our flesh
Where did the bird go?
Into what place was your airy weight dissolved?
In the clean air whence the bird took wing
Always
The branch sways as if to reply
The branch sways concealing its reply
© 2006, Leith Morton
From: Masayo Koike: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2006, Vagabond Press, Sydney
From: Masayo Koike: Selected Poems
Publisher: 2006, Vagabond Press, Sydney
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