Shuntaro Tanikawa Poems

When I am sad I can't write a sad poem.
All I can do is endure my tears.
When I'm happy I don't write a happy poem.
...

It's no use
floundering in the heart's shallows.
...

Yes, this is the guy I call "watashi"—
Two tiny eyes and two common ears,
one nose, one mouth.
...

age three
there was no past for me
...

So, coming one day
from somewhere,
suddenly I was standing on the grass;
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Nero
another summer is coming soon
your tongue
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Human beings on this small orb
sleep, waken and work, and sometimes
wish for friends on Mars.
...

I won't let words rest.
At times they feel ashamed of themselves
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Sound becoming sound
had begun to infest the blank white paper,
...

'Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woollem mittens,
Brown paper packages tied up with strings -
...