About this work
A poem set in Ikuta’s green space links impatience after prolonged illness with birds vanishing into the trees. This English version is an editorial translation for access; the Japanese text remains available alongside it for comparison.
Parallel reading
日本語と英語で読む
Read the Japanese original and its English translation together. On smaller screens, each language follows in sequence.
日本語原文 Japanese original
誰かに届けたい私の真心
十年もの年月、床に伏せてしまった
人にしてもらうばかりの人生だった
自分に葛藤がある
いったいこの私に何ができるのだろう
不甲斐なくて情けない葛藤がある
手のひらをじっと見つめて固く握りしめた
気がつけばもうこんな年になっていた
焦りだけが胸によぎる
その時バタバタと鳥は急いだ
ムクドリよ
ムクドリたちよ
そんなにも慌ててどこへ行くのか
この私を置き去りにして
メタセコイヤの森の果てへ消えていった
ヘリコプターが私を現実的な世界へと呼び覚ます
再び静寂だけが戻った午後の生田緑地
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Someone, please receive my sincere heart
For ten years, I have been bedridden
A life spent receiving help from others
In Conflict with Myself exists
What can this me possibly do?
There is a pitiful, pitiable struggle
I stare intently at my palms, tightly clenching them
Before I realize, I've already reached this age
Only anxiety flutters in my chest
At that moment, the birds flapped wildly and hurried
starlings
starlings, you all
Why are you in such a rush, where are you going?
Leaving me behind
Vanishing into the end of the metasequoia forest
A helicopter calls me back to the realistic world
Again, only silence returns to the afternoon at Ikuta Ryokuchi
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.