About this work

A poem gives unexplained sadness the form of ghosts from the past, whispering around the memory of someone who has gone. This English version is an editorial translation for access; the Japanese text remains available alongside it for comparison.

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日本語原文 Japanese original

悲しみの亡霊さん  高鳥奈緒   2023.8.19
 
悲しい理由がみつからないのに
心が泣いている
瞳もいっしょに泣き出したら
なぜだか少し解かりかけた。
この悲しみは過去たちの亡霊なんだ
私を過去たちの真ん中において
ひそひそと耳元で
囁く亡霊さん。
 
悲しくないよと心が叫んでも
ひたひたひた
亡霊さんが忍び寄って
悲しい気持ちを喉の奥から
引っ張り出して私を見つめる。
去って行ったあの人の眼だ、それは、
もしかして、あの人、もう亡霊さんに…。

English translation 英訳

AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.

Nao Takatori 2023.8.19

I can't find a reason to be sad

Yet my heart is weeping

When my eyes start to cry too

I somehow begin to understand.

This sadness is the ghosts of the past

You place me right in the middle of them

And whisper in my ear

Softly, the ghostly voice.

Even when my heart shouts, 'I'm not sad'

It comes creeping closer and closer

The ghostly voice pulls the sorrow from deep within my throat

And looks at me with those eyes.

Those eyes, that person who has gone away

Maybe that person has already become a ghost...

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