I am what I am; I will be what I will be.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Tempest

Tempest, twisting pines and willows
Is it your anger, my unexpressed sorrow
Or her heart’s solitary lament?

02 September 2011

Teacher's Lament

Since I thought
Nothing that is worth knowing
Could be taught,
I urged them
To be themselves;
To let their minds fly
Beyond known
And imagined horizons;
To traverse
What was taken for granted;
To transgress
The dogmas of our times.
Above all,
I pleaded with them
Not to follow me.
But I know
My shadow is not my own;
Its theirs.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Hold my Hand (Song of Sendai) - 私の手を取って (仙台の詩 うた)

Two weeks before I came to Japan, the worst tsunami in the history of Japan hit its Pacific Cost after the earthquake that triggered it was experienced off Tohoku on 11 March 2011. Now known as the ‘Great East Japan Earthquake’, it is the worst natural disaster the country had experienced. It appeared that the people and the government were simply not prepared for a catastrophe of this magnitude despite earthquakes and tsunamis being regular occurrences. The country clearly could not, and in many ways still do not effectively deal with it. But that kind of destruction, unfortunately I had seen before when a similar tsunami hit Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004. But in Japan, the damage caused to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant added a much greater risk factor into the scenario. The risk of exposure to radiation was and continues to be underemphasized by the government, and increasingly challenged by citizen’s groups. The health consequences of my own decision to come to a part of the country that was shunned by many visitors when common sense and well wishers insisted otherwise, will become clear in times to come. But the consequences, pain, lack of coordination in relief efforts, bureaucratic bungling, people’s urge to help and others’ seeming disinterest were all part of the same structure of reality that played out right in front of me, day by day. The following words were penned in this context, combining what I saw and my interest in Jazz. The Japanese translation is the contribution of Tetsuo Enomoto.
'The Great Wave' by Katsushika Hokusai, Woodcut, 1831.

















Hold my Hand
(Song of Sendai)

Hold my hand and never let go
As we did once before in the magic of our lives,
Under the twinkling stars and promising rainbows
Dazed by the perfume of the morning dew.
Hold my hand and never let go
Until we meet again in another world,
In another life, in another time,
And make it our paradise
As we did before.

From depths unknown, in the flicker of a moment
Sea gods churned its fury in madness
As the world swept away
Riding on a wave, moving beyond the shore
Where we built castles in the sand
In what was to be our forever land.
Washing our dreams away,
Wiping our footsteps off the sand forever,
Leaving our life’s magical moments
Only to be etched in these final memories.
Did we ever think the sunset of our lives
Was so close to the awe of its sunrise?

Hold my hand and never let go
As we did in the magic of our lives,
Under the twinkling stars and promising rainbows
Dazed by the perfume of the morning dew.
Hold my hand and never let go
Until we meet again in another world
In another life, in another time,
And make it our paradise as we did before.

Don’t sigh my love, but smile for me;
The dreams of our lives will live eternally
Riding on the waves kissing the playful froth,
And lovers unknown will make them their own.
Wherever we go in the worlds beyond
The magic of our love
And the summer of our dreams
Will follow us like a shadow,
Whispering softly
That you are with me,
And I am with you.

Hold my hand and never let go
As we did in the magic of our lives,
Under the twinkling stars and promising rainbows
Dazed by the perfume of the morning dew.
Hold my hand and never let go
Until we meet again in another world
In another life, in another time,
And make it our paradise as we did before.

Hold my hand and never let go
Hold my hand and never let go
Hold my hand and never let go
Hold my hand and never let go
Hold my hand and never let go
Hold my hand and never let go

Sasanka Perera
08 July 2011, Knuitachi, Tokyo


私の手を取って
(仙台の詩 うた)  

私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
煌めく星星や、夢を叶える虹の下で
朝露の芳香に酔いしれて
かつて我々が、夢のような世界で、
手を取り合ったように
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
我々が再びもう1つ別の世界で、別の人生で、
別の時代に、めぐり合う日まで
そして我々が、かつてしたように、
楽園をつくり上げる日まで

我々の知り得ぬ深みより
時の一瞬の揺らぎの中で
海神達は狂気の一撃を加えた
我々の世界は消し去られ、波に乗せられ
海の彼方へ持ち去られた
我々はかの地を、永遠の地と信じ、
砂に城を建てたのに。
我々の夢は波に洗われ、人生の素晴らしい一瞬をのこし、
最後の思い出を刻み込んだ、砂洲に残る足跡を
永久にぬぐい去った
でも、誰が我々の人生の終わりが、恐れ敬う人生の
始まりにこんなに近いものと考えたろうか?

私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
煌めく星星や、夢を叶える虹の下で
朝露の芳香に酔いしれて
かって我々が、夢のような世界で
手を取り合ったように
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
我々が再びもう一つ別の世で、別の人生で、
別の時代に めぐり合う日まで
そして我々が、かつてしたように、
楽園を作り上げる日まで

愛する人よ、溜息をつかずに、微笑んで
我々の人生の夢は、永久に続き
波に乗って、踊るような波に口づけし、
未来の恋人達は、その夢を現実のものとしよう
たとえ我々がこれから先どんな世界にいこうと
愛の魔力や、夢の盛りが
影のごとく我々についてきて、優しく囁く、
貴方は私のそばにおり、
私は貴方のそばにいますよ と。

私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
煌めく星星や、夢を叶える虹の下で
朝露の芳香に酔いしれて
かつて我々が、夢のような世界で、
手を取り合ったように
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
我々が再びもう一つ別の世界で、別の人生で、
別の時代に めぐり合う日まで
そして我々が、かつてしたように、
楽園を作り上げる日まで。

私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで
私の手を取って、そして決して離さないで


ササンカ ペレーラ              
2011年7月8日 東京 国立にて    


和訳  榎本徹夫
Translated into Japanese by Tetsuo Enomoto, August 2011, Kunitachi, Tokyo