Twelve Views from the Distance

TWELVE VIEWS FROM THE DISTANCE

Twelve views from The DisTance This page intentionally left blank Twelve views from The DisTance Mutsuo Takahashi x Translated by Jeffrey Angles university of minnesota press minneapolis · london All photographs courtesy of Mutsuo Takahashi. This book was originally published as Jū-ni no enkei (Tokyo: Chūō Kōronsha, 1970). The translation of this book was supported by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the PEN American Center. English translation copyright 2012 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Takahashi, Mutsuo. [Jū-ni no enkei. English] Twelve views from the distance / Mutsuo Takahashi ; translated by Jeffrey Angles. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8166-7277-6 (hc : acid-free paper)— ISBN 978-0-8166-7936-2 (pb : acid-free paper) 1. Takahashi, Mutsuo. 2. Poets, Japanese—20th century— Biography. I. Angles, Jeffrey, 1971– II. Title. PL862.A4212Z513 2012 895.6'15—dc23 [B] 2012022567 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer. 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Huddled on the sloping street The hunger of the boys shined Like the idol of some god The miserable town, hardened beneath their eyes, Spreads outward, rising to their height Toward frostbitten sky, wanting to scream Meanwhile, their mothers who have left For so far away, cast down their eyes With magical greatness —“Boys,” By Takahashi MuTsuo, froM ROSE TREE, FAKE LOVERS (1964) This page intentionally left blank ...