Hagiwara - Japanese Poetry

Fear of the Countryside


I fear the countryside,
fear the rows of rice stalks growing thin and long,
trembling in deserted paddies of the countryside.
Fear the swarms of poor human beings living in dark dwellings.
When sitting on a ridge between paddies,
the billow-like weight of soil darkens my heart,
the rotten smell of soil blackens my skin,
winter-withered lonely nature oppresses my life.

The air of the countryside is gloomy and oppressive,
the touch of the countryside is gritty and sickening,
when I sometimes think of the countryside,
I'm tormented by the smell of animal skin coarse in texture.
I fear the countryside, the countryside is a pale fever dream.


trns. by Hiroaki Sato


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