Tanikawa Shuntaro - Ikiru
What it means to be alive, What it means to be alive now. There is the feeling of thirst, The glare of the sunlight filtering through the trees, The sudden remembrance of a certain melody, To sneeze, To hold your hand.
What it means to be alive, What it means to be alive now. There are miniskirts, There are planetariums, There is John Strauss, There is Picasso, There are the Alps, The encounter with every beautiful thing, And then, The restraining of any evil within us.
What it means to be alive, What it means to be alive now. To be able to cry, To be able to laugh, To be able to get angry, The meaning of freedom.
What it means to be alive, What it means to be alive now. Right now, in a distant place, a dog is barking Right now, the earth is rotating Right now, somewhere, a baby’s cry can be heard Right now, somewhere, a soldier is wounded Right now, a swing sways back and forth Right now, the moment has passed.
What it means to be alive, What it means to be alive now. A bird spreading its wings, The rhythmic movement of the waves, A snail crawling, People falling in love, The warmth of your hand, Life itself.
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T/N: Initially, I didn’t wish to post this because I felt too much gets lost in translation especially when it comes to prose/poetry. Bringing out the lyrical expression in Japanese is beyond my knowledge and skills. However, reading through this poem again today, I felt the sudden need to share this beautiful piece with you.
There are definitely better translators out there (and I’d love to see how one would translate his works), but this is just my take on it.
