My Favorite Things Poem by Shuntaro Tanikawa

'Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woollem mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings -
These are a few of my favoruite things.'
- Oscar Hammerstein

No matter how much
I like a thing
actually owning it
soemwhat bores me.

And nomatter how much
I like that thing
not owning it
makes me somewhat resentful of it.

'Raindrops on rose and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens, . . .'

Poor Oscar,
your forced rhymes
sound just awful.
Sometimes even the soul is flatulent.

I want a drink of water;
I'm very thristy.
Half a cup isn't enough; a hundred would drown me.
I like water.

(Translated by William I. Elliott and Kazao Kawamura)