Archives

小鳥の歌 7 and 8

Jan2

Darkness surrounding
My senses as I reel
Closing around me
Morpheus, why hasten you
Here, so far from your kingdom?

Make haste, make haste, there
Is no more time for dreaming
Time creeps upon you
Yoshitsune descending
On heedless Dannoura

Notes:

Links: Midnight vigil to Darkness surrounding, why hasten you to make haste

First poem actually describes a fainting spell, can also mean depression. Morpheus is the Lord of Dreams.

Second poem notes there is not time for dreaming. I am trying to finish a project and am (as usual) running late. Yoshitsune descending upon Dannoura refers to the Battle of Dan no Ura, the final battle of the Genpei War (between the Minamoto and Taira clans, April 25th, 1185). Although mostly a sea battle, the land forces of the Taira were on a beach at Dan no Ura (which literally means “beach platform), when Minamoto no Yoshitsune came down upon them with his forces, riding down a very steep cliffside in a sneak attack.

小鳥の歌 6

Jan2

Arm as a pillow
I gaze at your sleeping form
Blessedly peaceful
My midnight vigil begins
While you doze like an infant

Notes: link Hand reaching to arm as a pillow.

Arm as a pillow is a makurakatoba, indicating sleeping with someone, often after intercourse.

The “feeling” is actually more comic in effect than early classical Japanese poetry, but believe me, it was truly felt.

小鳥の歌 5

Jan2

Your radiant smile
Still has the power to stir
My love-wary heart
So weary of Love’s cruel games
I extend a cautious hand

Link: radiant stars to radiant smile
Attempt at kakekatoba (pivot word) with the wary/weary pun. Not sure I like it, I ended up repeating “love” as well. I suppose I might have used “Cupid’s games” instead? Oh, well, tanka: one and done. Move on.

小鳥の歌 4

Jan2

The world keeps spinning
All things alight in their time
Nothing is constant
Even the darkest night is
Pierced by the radiant stars

Notes:

Link: “The world turned upside down” to “the world keeps spinning”.

Alight can mean “to descend” or “to come off of”, or it can also mean to “suddenly chance upon”. The ambiguity is purposeful.

This poem counters the negative uncertainty of the previous poem with a more positive feeling.

小鳥の歌 3

Jan2

Time interrupted
The earth danced beneath my feet
Yet my heart stood still
Be content, the times lament
The world turned upside down

Notes:

This morning, an earthquake of 5.6 on the Richter scale hit Pawnee, OK. It was felt throughout seven states, and quite strongly here, shaking our house for about a minute. It was my first earthquake and I wasn’t sure what to think about it (neither was my cat, Ryoko, who was sitting nearby!).

Link to the previous verse: one moment, much like another–my heart stood still

“Be content, the times lament” and “the world turned upside down” are from the 17th century song The World Turned Upside Down, which refers to the banning of certain Christmas traditions during the English Civil War.

And yes, this is the song Lin Manuel-Miranda refers to in the song “Yorktown” from Hamilton the Musical, and I’ll be truthful, I would not have known about the other without his reference.

The phrase “the World Turned Upside Down” actually dates back to the Book of Acts 17:6, King James Version.

I especially liked the “Be content, the times lament” which speak as clearly now as when the words were written in 1646. It was a common for Japanese poems to refer to entire phrases from ancient tanka, knowing that the meaning would be understood. The practice was called makurakatoba. It was understood that cultured people would catch the earlier reference. Sometimes these makurakatob

小鳥の歌2

Jan2

Misty-eyed, I wait
Trembling to hear the news
Today, tomorrow
It all has become the same
Distilled into one moment

Notes:

Ties to the previous poem: Misty-eyed from “Mist rising”, repeating the theme of “future becomes the past” by emphasizing the loss of the sense of time passing.

My cat Nabiki fell ill suddenly and I had to take her to the vet. Since they had to fit her in between appointments, I ended up waiting all day, sick with worry about her.

Buddhism teaches that time is a human construct that causes suffering. There is no yesterday or tomorrow, only today, only this moment we live in. Unfortunately, this minute was all about anxiety and sorrow.

小鳥の歌 1

Jan2

平成二十八年九月一日
A sparrow singing
Amidst the cicadas’ cries
Welcoming twilight
Winds in the east, mist rising
Future mirroring the past

Notes:
Birdsong will be a continued theme
Cicadas’ cries mark the end of summer and the beginning of autumn
They are loudest at twilight, but also, they sing as they die, as the summer dies
The last two lines call back to “Winds in the East” from Mary Poppins (lyrics by Robert and Richard Sherman)

“Winds in the east, mist comin’ in
Like somethin’ is brewin’, about to begin.
Can’t put me finger on what lies in store,
But I feel what’s to happen all happened before.”