Thursday Poem

A Watermelon Field

Until yesterday watermelons aplenty were left lying
here and there in the field.
But today
there are none.
Someone unknown has taken them away.

There are only the field and the sky.
A white cloud, coming and going,
is looking for watermelons.

A young girl comes along,
oblivious of watermelons, etc.
Her full hips swaying,
her face flushed,
she walks briskly into the unknown.

Soon she disappears.
The field and the sky alone remain.

by Shinjiro Kurahara
from Iwana
publisher: Dowaya, Tokyo, 2010
translattion: Mariko Kurihara, William I. Elliott, Katsumasa Nishihara