0004000800’s Reviews > On Knowing Oneself Too Well > Status Update

I enjoyed reading this book (though I don’t usually read poetry (I need to change that) hence, I don’t feel particularly qualified to rate it but for enjoyment alone I’d say 3.5-4/5. The poems were so evocative and somber) I hope to one day read it in its original Japanese but until then.

“Home
 
This morning when I opened my eyes
I longed for a place to call my home.
I thought much about it while washing my face.
Returning home after a day’s work,
As I sipped some tea and smoked a cigarette after supper,
The purple smoke reminded me of my dear past.
I sadly thought about “home”—
Sadly and in desolation.”

“The occasional thought of this kind
That crops up in the middle of my busy life—
To whom is it due?”

I liked “An Old Man” a lot!

“The epitaph which we, his fellows, selected for him is as follows:

“I am always ready to rise.”

“There are days of great happiness
Even to this impoverished poet,” ”

“Under heaven, nobody is a stranger.”

“Like my father, the autumn is severe;
Like my mother, the autumn is tender;
For a homeless child.”