About this work
A speaker reflects on years of illness and the wish to help others, interrupted by birds and a helicopter over a green landscape. 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
誰かに届けたい自分の真心
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
いったいこんな人間に何ができるのか
不甲斐なくて情けない葛藤ばかり
手のひらをじっと見つめて固く握りしめると
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
その時バタバタとはばたく鳥は
ムクドリだ
そんなにも慌ててどこへ行く
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界へと呼び覚ます
再び静寂に戻った午後の緑地
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
Someone, I want to convey my sincere heart
Ten years have passed, and I have been bedridden
A life spent receiving help from others
What can such a person possibly do?
Useless, pitiful struggles only
Staring intently at my palms, I tightly clench them
Before I realize, I've already reached this age
Only anxiety flutters in my chest
At that moment, the birds flapping about are
starlings
How desperately they rush, where are they going?
Leaving me behind
Vanishing into the end of the metasequoia forest
A helicopter calls me back to the realm of reality
Again, the afternoon green space returns to silence
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.