珊瑚礁の海から便りが届いた

自由奔放な雲に託されて

 

　　あれからあの島も

　　人間が住めなくなりました

　　椰子茂る孤島になりました

　　もう　爆弾も落ちて来ませんが

　　敵味方の屍が寄り添いながら

　　静かに眠っています

　　波が一日中子守歌を歌っています

 

　　戦争は　もう起きないでしょうね

　　近頃やっと

　　人魚達が戻って参りました

　　月の光を浴びながら

　　渚の岩上で

　　乳首を含ませている姿が

　　とっても綺麗で平和です

 

象形文字ばかりで印された

こんな便りが

今届いたばかり

紺青色の便箋紙に綴られて

たった今届いたばかり

 

 

Akita Takatoshi (b.1931) has published the poetry collection Chijin no tsubuyaki (A fool’s mutterings), the haiku collection Yosenabe (Hotpot), and a biography of Sugie Yoshio. He received the Seiha International Literature Prize from the Korean Literature Promotion Organization and the Promotion of International Goodwill Prize. He is a member of The Japan P.E.N. Club, The Japan Poets Club, The Modern Haiku Association, The Japan-Korea Poets Exchange Association, and The National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan.

 

Sea-blue Writing-paper

News arrived from the Coral Sea

Entrusted to the free, racing clouds

 

　　After that, that island too

　　Became uninhabitable

　　It became a desert isle where coconut palms grow wild

　　No more bombs fall there but

　　The corpses of friend and foe lie side by side

　　Quietly asleep

　　All day the waves sing lullabies

 

　　No more war, most likely…

　　Lately, at last

　　The mermaids have returned

　　Bathing in sunlight

　　On rocks along the shore

　　And giving their teats to suckle

　　How lovely and peaceful they appear

 

This piece of news

Printed only in hieroglyphs

Has just arrived

Written on sea-blue writing-paper

It has only just arrived

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Translated by Paul McCarthy)