The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009

At Midnight in the Kitchen I Wanted to Talk to You

97 At Midnight in the Kitchen I Wanted to Talk to You 夜中に台所でぼくはきみに話し かけたかった (1975) Grass and all at once one time out of some place I was standing in this grass All I have to do was recorded in my cells That is why I took the shape of a man and even talked about happiness (translated by W. S. Merwin with Takako Lento) At Midnight in the Kitchen I Wanted toTalk to You 1 Two junior high kids, a boy and a girl, are sitting on a subway bench, you see, Cheshire cat smiles pasted on their faces they are chatting, showing peach colored gums In comes a subway train, gwaooh-gwaooh, I’d have thought they’d get on it, but they don’t, you know 98 gwaooh-gwaooh, off goes the train that’s the context of this line in our times Why don’t you guys just do it, get it over with? I’m too involved with myself to watch over you until you guys get to be my age 2 to Takemitsu Tˉ oru I bet you are drinking tonight too, somewhere I hear ice clink in your glass You’d talk a lot, and then fall silent with no warning Even though the cause of our pain is one we have different ways of diversion Do you beat your wife? 3 to Oda Minoru It’s no use accusing just the prime minister He isn’t even a symbol your Osaka dialect is eternal but prime ministers change in short order There’s a stream in the refrigerator, you know, I am drinking coffee in my kitchen Justice is not my cup of tea so at least I will make my handwriting steady Then tomorrow will come tomorrow, so snugly fitted into history, yet sticking out of it with mysterious arrogance Shall I say good morning while it’s still night? 夜中に台所でぼくはきみに話しかけたかった • 1975 At Midnight in the Kitchen I Wanted to Talk to You 99 4 to Tanikawa Tomoko I don’t blame you for getting angry I am telling you to love me at my ugliest what’s more, while sober I am in an absolute bind I probably need a catharsis like that of Oedipus provided, of course, I can survive that without losing my eyesight I wonder what the chorus would sing for me? I bet they’d clamor in unison something about an Oedipus complex and such They’ve got a point Interpretation is always a step behind, but to be honest, what I’d really prefer to get is an utterly unreasonable oracle 5 I’ve done enough yapping like a know-it-all No more chatter to the printing machines I want someone facing me — I don’t care if it’s a ghost though it’ll annoy me if I get talked to It would be good if money turned into tree leaves not all, but just about half of it then I could sit spaced-out all day long gazing at the tree leaves It will be nice to have lightning come closer from the distance then to have rain arrive 100 It may even be ok to have a burglar break into my house surely better than legal statements Suppose a ghost grows younger and younger and reverts to, say, a beautiful Oiwa before poison disfigured her I wonder if I can make her happy 6 Being totally silent, that’s pretty good, isn’t it? a guy like a cymbal in an orchestra, you see he shouts to his limit, just once, or maybe twice and then he sits back for the rest of the time what to do while just sitting? keeping bees might be good then, the theme of his shouting would be bees Though bees are his theme, naturally he ends up talking about life even if he just screeches tonal qualities are totally different, you see how do I put it? his vocal cords, his Adam’s apple, and his tongue all, I think, have grown quite thick yet they are not tough, you know his spit sprays out, too 7 I will send you a post card The card will say something like I’m fine and such but that’s not it, to be precise To say I’m not fine is not right either, the truth is somewhere in between in other words, it’s normal...