２８ Ｊｕｎｅ， Ｂａｋｕ Ｙｕｍｅｍａｋｕｒａ
文字数 2,211文字
Sparse and Phantom Verses
a Kyoto inn
you’d think the nighttime blossoms
were ghosting it here too
*
you must wait five trillion years
quoth the Buddha. A lie!
swirls of falling petals
*
how far’s sadness
in those pale scales?
sleeping snake
*
snake ate the moon
and turned
into whitest woman
*
far in the vast green depths
a wailing god
the blue storm
*
snake lady
has spawned
an egg-bearing child
*
summer moon
held lightly
in the wolf’s mouth
*
come forth
woman’s corpse
from the firefly light!
*
autumn fingers
an offering
to pale breasts
*
wine all drunk
old Li Bai
sleeps with the moon
*
moon through pines
the old couple
dangle there laughing
*
red shadowlight
jaw of a panther
that ate the moon
*
all humankind
will perish—
red Buddha flower
*
eating
simmered tofu
face like some impossible equation
*
drowned corpse
glaring
at the chill moon
*
crimson
of lips
telling pale lies
*
fields of yellow rape flowers
sea glittering
brink of the impossible
*
mountain of flowers
nowhere for Godzilla
to tread
*
red moon
is mother
turned to blind beast
*
swaying flowers
strange kalpas
multitudinous
Translated by Meredith McKinney/Arranged by TranNet KK
Baku Yumemakura
Born in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, January 1st 1951. Made his literary debut in 1977. Has written many successful series including Kimaira (Chimera), Psyche Diver, Yamigarishi (Hunter of darkness), Garōden (Legend of the hungry wolf), and Onmyōji (Diviner), among others. Won the Nihon SF Taishō Award in 1989 for
a Kyoto inn
you’d think the nighttime blossoms
were ghosting it here too
*
you must wait five trillion years
quoth the Buddha. A lie!
swirls of falling petals
*
how far’s sadness
in those pale scales?
sleeping snake
*
snake ate the moon
and turned
into whitest woman
*
far in the vast green depths
a wailing god
the blue storm
*
snake lady
has spawned
an egg-bearing child
*
summer moon
held lightly
in the wolf’s mouth
*
come forth
woman’s corpse
from the firefly light!
*
autumn fingers
an offering
to pale breasts
*
wine all drunk
old Li Bai
sleeps with the moon
*
moon through pines
the old couple
dangle there laughing
*
red shadowlight
jaw of a panther
that ate the moon
*
all humankind
will perish—
red Buddha flower
*
eating
simmered tofu
face like some impossible equation
*
drowned corpse
glaring
at the chill moon
*
crimson
of lips
telling pale lies
*
fields of yellow rape flowers
sea glittering
brink of the impossible
*
mountain of flowers
nowhere for Godzilla
to tread
*
red moon
is mother
turned to blind beast
*
swaying flowers
strange kalpas
multitudinous
Translated by Meredith McKinney/Arranged by TranNet KK
Baku Yumemakura
Born in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, January 1st 1951. Made his literary debut in 1977. Has written many successful series including Kimaira (Chimera), Psyche Diver, Yamigarishi (Hunter of darkness), Garōden (Legend of the hungry wolf), and Onmyōji (Diviner), among others. Won the Nihon SF Taishō Award in 1989 for
Jōgen
no
tsuki
o
taberu
shishi
(The lion who consumes the crescent moon), the Shibata Renzaburō Award in 1998 forThe
Summit
of
the
Gods
, and the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literary, Seiichi Funahashi Literary Award, and the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature in 2011 forŌedo
chōkakuden
(Legend of the fisherman of Edo). His works includeŌedo
kyōryūden
(Legend of the dinosaurs of Edo), andYamantaka:
Daibosatsu-tōge
keppūroku
(Yamantaka: Bloodshed on Bodhisattva Pass), among others. In addition to his various literary works, he also enjoys many hobbies including fishing, theater, and pottery.
