8/3/2019 Poems From Shuntaro Tanikawa

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3 Poems from 62 Sonnets (1953)

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I wont let words rest.At times they feel ashamed of themselvesand want

to die, inside of me.When that happens Im in love.

In a world otherwise silentpeopleonly people chatter away.Whats

more, sun and trees and cloudsare unconscious of their beauty.

A fast-flying plane flies in the shape of human passion.Though the blue

sky pretends to be a backdrop,in fact theres nothing there.

When I call out, in a small voice,the world doesnt answer.My words are

no different from those of the birds.

54

I grew unwittingly apartfrom the world in which I was bornand can no

longer walk againamong the things of the earth.

We know that even love is a possession,but we cant keep from praying

that life will go on.And we accept the poverty of our prayers.

I can possess nothing,though I lovetrees, clouds, people.

I can only discardmy overflowing hearthesitant to call that an act of

love.

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8/3/2019 Poems From Shuntaro Tanikawa

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Its distance that makesmountains mountains.Looked at closely,they

start to resemble me.

Vast panoramas stop people in their tracksand make them conscious of

the engulfing distances.Those very distances make peoplethe people they

are.

Yet people can also contain distancesinside themselves,which is why

they go on yearning

They soon find theyre just places violated by distances,and no longerobserved.They have then become scenery.