Sadness
Sadness
A half-peeled apple
Not a metaphor
Not a poem
Merely there
A half-peeled apple
Sadness
Merely there
Yesterday’s evening paper
Merely there
Merely there
A warm breast
Merely there
Nightfall
Sadness
Apart from words
Apart from the heart
Merely there
The things of today.
by Shuntaro Tanikawa
from The Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry
Vintage Books, 1996