It is trembling again today
I did not know that the earth
Is an unruly cradle
A cruel cradle that lets
Neither adult nor child sleep
It should be a gentle season of vernal sleep
When one sleeps so deeply there is no dawn
But spring this year
Shakes us to keep us
From falling asleep
For you simply to
Keep spinning happily
Leave the trembling
To windblown flowers and
Laundry hanging in the yard
You should simply spin
Innocently
May you turn to bubbles and disappear
Do not tremble
Do not trem
Do not tre
Do not
Not
No!
© Toshiko Hirata. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2012 by Jeffrey Angles. All rights reserved.