happy lunar new year

Morning Relay

When a young man
in Kamchatka
dreams
of a giraffe,
a young girl
in Mexico
waits
for the bus
in the morning haze.

When a little girl
in New York
rolls over
in her bed
with a smile,
a little boy
in Rome
winks
at the morning sun
that colours
the columned capital.

On this earth,
always,
somewhere,
morning is starting.
We are relaying morning,
from longitude
to longitude,
taking turns,
protecting earth,
as it were.

Prick up your ears
a while
before you go to sleep,
and somewhere,
far away,
you will hear
an alarm clock
ringing,
as proof that
someone
has firmly caught
the morning
you’ve
passed on.

by tanikawa shuntaro

original post here

i went to a bookshop with a friend of mine in japan recently and bought “naked” by tanikawa shuntaro translated into english. fantastic poetry. impressive.

have a memorable lunar new year, everyone.

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6 Responses to “happy lunar new year”

  1. kyoung-june Says:

    happy new year, hee-jong

  2. jaz Says:

    thank you dr.park. same to you.
    carmen>> ah- that’s lovely! and you’re welcome to borrow “naked” and have a look. it’s great :)

  3. jaz Says:

    carmen. i accidentally deleted your comment. damn. spams, spams, spams…

  4. jaz Says:

    but luckily, i’ve still got an email about your comment :D
    Carmen: My aikido friend found your site and quoted the above poem on his journal - he said it was JUST what he needed to hear. Isn’t that beautiful?

  5. andy Says:

    is that where all those strange noises come from? it’s those alarm clocks and morning groans coming from the other side? makes me think we should have a morning webcam that relays images of sunrise from different parts of the world - ideal for people like me who never really get to see sunrise

  6. jaz Says:

    or there’s a slight chance that it may be tom… or even yourself? i think i prefer looking at the moon than the sun - at least i can actually look at it.

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