About this work
A playful meditation contrasts human mortality with poems that refuse to follow their maker into death. 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
ある日、ぼんやりと考えた
自分のモノなんて何もないんじゃないかと
そう思えてきたら何て気楽なことだろって
肉は死んでも詩歌は生きてやがる
川を渡るにも
大きな荷物なんて持っては行けない
詩歌は最初からその舟に乗り込まない
いつかはすべての人は死ぬ
悲しいけれど生き物
もれなく自分もね
そう考えたら卑しい欲はいらない
お前さんたち、勝手に三途の川わたりなさい、って
俺の詩たちはいってやがる
欲はよくも悪くも
ほどほどに、がいいのかなって
あの世には身体一つで
沢山のメモリーだけ持ってくよ
いつかその日が来るのなら
欲はよくも悪くも
ほどほどに
幸せなあたたかい記憶だけ残したいな
詩歌は先に去った肉を悲しんでなんかいない
こいつは冷酷だ、一緒に死んでくれといっても
知らんぷり。
今日も知らんぷり。
明日も知らんぷり。
English translation 英訳
AI-assisted English translation. The Japanese original remains authoritative.
One day, I thought vaguely,
Maybe I have nothing of my own.
How easy it would be if that were true.
Meat may die, but poetry and song live on.
To cross the river,
You can't carry a big load.
Song and poetry never get on that boat in the first place.
Someday, all people will die.
A sad thing, but we are living beings.
And I, too, will surely die.
So thinking that way, I don't need shameful desires.
You guys, go on your own way across the river of death.
My poems say.
Desire, whether good or bad,
Is best kept in moderation, I think.
To the afterlife, I'll take only my body and
A lot of memories.
If someday that day comes,
Desire, whether good or bad,
Is best kept in moderation.
I only want to leave behind happy, warm memories.
Song and poetry don't mourn the meat that went before.
This is cruel. Even if you say,
"Come and die with me,"
It doesn't care.
It doesn't care today.
It doesn't care tomorrow.
Original wording, author credits, notes and source materials are preserved there.