Late evening finally
comes: I unlatch the door
and quietly
await the one
who greets me in my dreams.
~~Otomo no Yakamochi
Is it true my love
has finally come to see me,
or am I dreaming?
Am I sane? Or is she
an invention of my needing?
~~Anonymous
Under the sky’s
broad reaches. like ice
imperceptibly melting,
may your cold heart
melt for me.
~~Anonymous
Early morning glows
in the faint shimmer
of first light.
Choked with sadness,
I help you into your clothes.
~~Anonymous
I cannot ask you
when, exactly, you plan to leave.
Surely, when you go, like a single drop of dew,
I will vanish from this world.
~~Anonymous
As night follows night,
I shift and turn my pillow,
my eyes wide open.
Long ago i dreamed of you.
How was I sleeping that night?
~~Anonymous
In river shallows,
duckweed continues to grow,
unseen by water.
Likewise, my love too shall flow,
though it remains unseen by you.
~~Ki no Tomonori
As pale daylight breaks,
I start for the long road home.
Walking in heartache,
first teardrops and then raindrops
soak through the sleeves of my robe.
~~Fujiwara no Toshiyki
I worried: might you
come here; might I go there;
might we meet again?
Then, at last, the bashful moon:
I slept with my door unlatched.
~~Anonymous
|
|
Returning again
and again like endless waves,
my heart is stolen
by memories of a stranger
who carries it away.
~~Ariwara no Motokata
Now I go to live
among trails deep in mountains.
The day will not come
when my black sleeves are not soaked
through with tears of my mourning.
~~Anonymous
By morning, the leaves
have fallen into silence,
the wind has finally parted,
like lovers after a night,
all talked out, now brokenhearted.
~~Saigyo
His words mean nothing.
Nevertheless I believe
through long crying nights:
knowing it comes to nothing.
I believe his beautiful lies.
~~Fujiwara no Tameie
Like a bird’s sky-road
which leaves no trail in the air,
my life, too, shall go
unnoticed, and if i cry,
will anyone know or care?
~~Kyogoku Tamekane
He’s wrapped in worries,
and I’m simply too timid
to beg him to return:
apart, together we yearn
through another night wasted.
~~Kyogoku Tamekane
Time after time
we have thought each rendezvous
would be our final.
Those beautiful sad moments
no one else can ever know.
~~Kyogoku Tamekane
Was it all a dream--
I mean those old bygone days--
were they what they seemed?
All night long I lie awake
listening to autumn rain.
~~Ryokan
Following his bath,
I gave my handsome lover
my best purple robe
to keep him from the cold.
He blushed, and was beautiful.
~~Yosano Akiko
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