Japan Society of Fairfield County
Tanka(5)
by Dr. Ikuko Anjo Jassey
紺青の夜空に明るき月あれど心砕けて先が見えない
ko n jo o no yo zo ra ni a ka ru ki tsu
ki a re do ko ko ro ku da ke te sa ki ga mi e na i
The bright yellow moon
in the navy blue sky;
and yet, everything blurred
Her heart crumbling
祖母フジは片目文盲心根はたとえれば海 春の内海
so bo hu ji wa ka ta me mo n mo o ko ko ro ne
wa ta to e re ba u mi ha ru no u chi u mi
Grandma Fuji was one-eyed,
and she was illiterate
Nevertheless, her heart was, say,
the sea—the inland sea on a spring day
夢は夢叶わぬものが夢にして夢という文字草書して書きませ
yu me wa yu me ka na wa nu mo no ga yu me ni
shi te yu me to i u mo ji ku zu shi te ka ki
ma se
A dream is fragile
A dream is like water
So scribe its character in a cursive flow
夕暮れにからすが鳴いてその話地獄の底にストンと落ちた
yu u gu re ni ka ra su ga na i te so no ha na
shi ji go ku no so ko ni su to n to o chi ta
In the dusk
with a crow’s croaking
Talk dropped right into the pit of hell
方言集＜かくさま かあさん おっかさん＞ああ、＜かあちゃん＞がこんなところに
ho o ge n shu <ka ku sa ma ka a san
o kka sa n> a a ka a cha n ga ko n na to
ko ro ni
A Collection of Dialects
“mater”
“mamma”
“ma”
Ah, here you are
“mom”
軒先の会津みしらず十六夜の月を見上げて＜まだ春来ねか＞
no ki sa ki no a i zu mi shi ra zu i za yo i
no tsu ki o mi a ge te <ma da ha ru ko ne
ka>
Hanging from the eaves
dried persimmons looking up to the moon
of the sixteenth night
“Ain’t spring comin’ yet?”
満天の星を見上げて「寒いなあ」呟きながら放尿する父
ma n te n no ho shi o mi a ge te 「sa mi i na a」
tsu bu ya ki na ga ra ho o nyo o su ru chi
chi
Looking up to a heaven of stars
Dad is urinating
mumbling , “Shiverin’”
｢臓腑も喰え｣とは決して言わない父親の言葉待ち待ち青ねぎを喰う
「mo tsu mo ku e」 to wa ke sshi te i wa na i
chi chi o ya no ko to ba ma chi ma chi a o ne
gi o ku u
Knowing it would never happen
and yet waiting for Dad to say
“Eat entrails, too”;
Only green scallions from the hot pot
We children eat
「ああ、冷みて」「ほんとに寒い」方言は過ぎし時世の無形財産
「a a chi mi te」 「ho n to ni sa mi i」 ho o ge n
wa su gi shi to ki yo no i n ta n ji bu ru
“Ah, freezin’”
“Real Kold”
Dialects—a legacy of the past
Now disappearing
Intangible
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