At the Lighthouse

To the offing. To the ocean where scaly travellers(1) rub their backs, go over one another, compete.
Betting my life on the moment, to the offing, to the offing, I am young.

I have returned. From there, tired of fighting, seeking rest,
to be cradled in an inlet, to sleep, to let myself be rolled in and out, be played with, on the beach of pinewind.

White noon, my legs dangling from the burnt rock under the lighthouse, eyes closed,
in the midst of the commotion of whirling waves, these are the words I heard.

燈台にて

燈台にて

沖へ。鱗旅どもが背をすり合せ、のり越え、競ふ大洋へ。
瞬間にいのちを賭けて、沖へ、沖へ、わたしは若い。

わしはかへつてきた。あそこから、闘ひに疲れ、憩ひをもとめ、
入江に抱かれ、松籟の渚に巻き返し、身をまろばせて眠るため。

白昼、燈台下の焼岩から両足をたらし、目をとぢて、
私は、うづ巻く波濤のざわめくなかに、この二つの言葉をきいた。