Waka Poems
Translated from Japanese by Naoko Fujimoto
The Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each)
10.
Here,
we meet we sprawl
East to Kyoto to home
once we pass this gate. Here.
-- Semimaru
13.
Collects drips
from the ridges, a stream
wider & deeper brimming the minano-river as if
my koigokoro cascades into an abyss.
--Emperor Yōzei 14.
Into the inner Oku province,
a stone rubs silk with wild grasses
dying complicated paths
like my heart
tangles into yours
forgetting who I am.
--Kawara no Sadaijin 15.
You’re in my prayer—
I am out to pluck spring
seven herbs
snow is falling on my sleeves.
--Emperor Kōkō 16.
I’m leaving to Mount Inaba pine-trees on its peak
If you pine for me—
I will come back right away.
--Ariwara no Yukihira
Graphic Poem by Naoko Fujimoto
About the work:
Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each) is a classic waka poetry anthology curated by Fujiwara no Teika around the twelfth century. These poems have been deeply associated with Japanese history and modern cultures.
About the translator:
Naoko Fujimoto was born, raised in Nagoya, Japan and studied at Nanzan Junior College. She was an exchange student at Indiana University and received a BA and MA there. Her poetry collections are “Where I Was Born”, winner of the editor’s choice by Willow Books (2019), “Glyph:Graphic Poetry=Trans. Sensory” by Tupelo Press (2021), and “Mother Said, I Want Your Pain”, winner of the Shared Dream Immigrant Contest by Backbone Press (2018). Her first chapbook, “Home, No Home” (2016), which won the annual Oro Fino Chapbook Competition by Educe Press and another short collection, “Silver Seasons of Heartache” (2017) by Glass Lyre Press, are available from each press. She is the Translation Initiative Editor at RHINO Poetry, a non-profit literary organization.
