THE BIRDS _ a poem by Yuri Kageyama (exceprt from The River) with cello by Hirokazu Natsuaki

Yuri Kageyama · THE BIRDS a poem by Yuri Kageyama with cello by Hirokazu Natsuaki

Kabuki’s answer to the Pelican

The Flamingo, the Albatross,

The Heron swoops through the sky

Perches so perfectly on a pine _

Princess in mirrored waters;

The humble fish-gulping Cormorant

Dives in muddy waters,

Spreads battered wings to dry,

In flight, freed from slavery _

Transforms, a gliding Black Swan;

The Sparrow plays, chirping staccatos,

Small furs of speckled brownness,

They play, always searching

Like a lost forlorn child _

Unchanged from Issa’s poems.

>___<

I waited all summer

For your return

Flutters of petal

Above the water

Buddha’s wafting lily pads

Your squawks swim the salty breeze

Circling, swooping, dancing,

They say birds vanish before an earthquake,

A hurricane, an apocalypse;

It matters not you don’t remember me

Your playful swoops

Silence screams of hate

Your presence is comfort

In this Atomic Age

You are back:

“I will not cry

Except in love” _

I wrote those lines

When I was very young,

And they are still true

As I die, You are back