On the Morning of Our Last Farewell
Toshiko
you are leaving me today for a faraway place
And though it is raining, the world is oddly bright
(Brother... will you bring me some?)
Sleet splashes on the cold, hard ground
from dark and dismal clouds tinged red
(Brother... will you bring me some?)
Taking two chipped bowls
decorated with blue water-shields
I run into the falling sleet
a magic bullet
to bring you back a bowl of rain and snow
(Brother... will you bring me some?)
Sleet falls down, down, down
from clouds the color of bismuth
Oh Toshiko!
you are dying
and yet you want me to be happy
so you sent me out for a bowl of fresh snow
Bless you, my brave little sister
You will keep me on the narrow path
(Brother... will you bring me some?)
In the midst of your suffering, feverish and short of breath
you asked me
for one last bowl of snow, fallen from the sky
the galaxy, the sun, the atmosphere……
…...A lone puddle of sleet
in a crevice of granite -
I stand precariously above
reaching to the glistening pines
heavy, cold, translucent
trying to preserve the pure white mixture of snow and rain
the very last meal I will prepare for you
my dear little sister...
Today you are parting also
with the indigo pattern
of our childhood bowls
(Ora Orade Shitori egumo*)
This is really it
Oh! I can see it - the closed hospital room
where you lie behind a dark partition, under netting
your pale face burning gently
My brave little sister!
Everywhere I turn
the snow is white
and beautiful, and yet
it has fallen from this terrible sky
(The next time I am born a human
I will try to be less selfish
with my suffering)
I say a prayer
over these two bowls of snow...
May they become the food of Tushita Heaven
and bring to you, Toshiko, and all people
good fortune
I ask this from the bottom of heart
*The roman script was used in the original. It is an expression spoken in the Tohoku dialect: “I... I am going alone.”
Written by Miyazawa Kenji | Translation by Adam Kuplowsky
永訣の朝, 春と修羅, 1924
Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933): Poet, short-story writer, agricultural educator and Esperantist. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, his poems and stories, especially his fairy tales, are now considered to be among the most celebrated contributions to Japanese literature. (Japan)