Solitary Sunday
Blanket of snow
My gaze
My silence
（1989）
冬
ひとりの 休日に
いちめんの 雪
みつめる わたし
音のない わたし
（1989年）
I’m patting my dog’s head
over and over.
Something amazing is happening.
I am becoming happier and happier.
.（1988）
宇宙の法則
犬の頭をなでる
コロコロと なでる
なぜか 自分が うれしくなってくる
すごいことが おきている
（1988）
My funeral
A friend’s funeral
Not to cry after a death
with unexpressed gratitude
I will face them now
with “arigato.”
Note: arigato is an expression of thanks or gratitude in Japanese.
(Original Japanese poem)
自分の葬式
他人の葬式
死んでから
鳴いて感謝するよりも
向かい合った「ありがとう」を
私は選ぶ
Midnight parties are
sheer sadness
The taxi in front of me is
a mere pumpkin
Oh, pumkin, pumpkin
You are white tonight
(1990)
Note: In Japan, taxis come in a variety of colors: black, white, green, yellow, blue, etc.
真夜中の宴会は
ただの かなしみ
目の前のタクシーは
ただの かぼちゃ
かほちゃよ かぼちゃ
今日のは 白いな
Ah!
How vacant it is
Wonderously vacant
Incessently vacant
But, my heart,
That’s OK
It’s a blessing
And indeed better
For just a litte longer
Stay this way and behave
(1988)
(Original Japanese poem)
まあ
なんて からっぽ
みごとに からっぽ
ずっと からっぽ
でも
それでいいの 私のこころよ
それが なにより
ほんとに なにより
今しばらくは
そこでおとなしく しておいで
On the days I can approach people,
Everyone seems beautiful.
The air sparkles.
I don’t understand myself.
Why have I held onto this solitude?
(1987)
勇気の孤独
自分から 人に
話しかけることができた日は
どんな人も 美しく思える
大気が きらめいて見える
どうしたものか 自分よ
何もそこまで 孤独になるな
To the countless stars in the sky,
Does being round
make it easier for you
to travel through the universe?
Or, while on your travels,
did the universe beat you,
making you rounder and rounder?
Or, is it the space between us
that simply makes you appear round?
Is keeping a good distance your secret?
お星さまへ
天空にまします数々のお星さま
丸ければ
宇宙で うまくまわっていられますか？
それとも
まわっているうちに
あの手この手で 宇宙が
丸くしにかかってくるんですか
それとも
何でもかんでも
遠くにおいてしまえば
丸く見えてくるもんですか？
つまり
距離をおくってことですね
Naomi and I are pleased to announce an upcoming publication: Kukai no Hitobito. This is Naomi’s memoir of her experience as a pilgrim to the Eighty-Eight Sacred Places of Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan. The text is in Japanese and will be available to purchase in October.
We are excited to announce our next book. This will be a paperback of 101 poems by Naomi. The book is in Japanese and is illustrated. It will go on sale by the end of September. Click on the image for a larger view.
Translations: Bates International Poetry Festival 2011 documents this creative event featuring eight poets from around the world: Polina Barskova (Russia), Rhea Côté Robbins and Robert Farnsworth (United States), Francisca López (Spain), Naomi Otsubo (Japan), Danny Plourde (Canada), Carmen Elisabeth Puchianu (Romania), and Miguel Ángel Zapata (Peru). These poets spent five days performing their poetry in their native language and interacting with students and faculty on translations of their work. Contained in this volume are the original poems and the translations that came from this collaboration. Essays on the meaning of festivals, insights into translations, translation in pedagogy, and reflections on multilingualism from Enrique Yepes, Jane Costlow, Sarah Strong, Claudia Aburto Guzmán, Laura Balladur, Francisca López, and Raluca Cernahoschi round out this fascinating volume.
Use the following link to go to the Apple iBookstore: Translations – Claudia Aburto Guzmán & William Ash
