Four Tanka
Translated By Yuki Tanaka
Translated from the Japanese
Guilt
is emptied out of a body
that stands
like a scarecrow—
is that what a poem is?
Touching is different
from reaching
but I move a moth
onto my hand
and play.
Birds that couldn’t
step back—
the second person pronoun
lacerated
by the sunset.
Massacre—
in the mass, women
are not included.
Kept alive, changing again
into hydrangeas.
Notes:
Read the translator’s note by Yuki Tanaka.
Source: Poetry (June 2025)