Five Poems by Shinsaku Ashida

 

   The palace


　The palace
　collapsing
　once
　a symbol of splendor
　the guest rooms
　the dance halls
　the ceiling paintings
　what once seemed eternal
　now gradually
　falling apart
　unable to escape
　a child remains
　witnessing the end
　even in haste
　the palace cannot be rebuilt
　seated in a chair
　gazing up at the ceiling
　the collapse of the palace
　is the palace's concern
　the child
　smiles

The Forest’s Wish

May those with wisdom
not trespass

May those who carry tools
not appear

May the foolish ones
just pass through

The forest’s wish
is the insects’ wish

The forest’s wish
is the animals’ wish

The forest’s wish
cannot be heard by humans

Though it is the same
as what they wish for
in their own homes

In the forest
they forget

The forest’s language
becomes inaudible

Though in their homes
they wish for
the same things as the forest

Though in their homes
they speak
the language of the forest

When they go to the forest
they forget
the forest’s language

with an axe in hand

When they say
they do not understand
the forest’s words
people conveniently
lose their hearts

always

though under their roofs
they are reciting
the forest’s wish

When Flowers Are Buried

Though praised,
no help could reach
the little birds.

Children of humans
held the power
to bring an end
to the world of flowers.

Flowers
were never made
to resist humankind.

Children of humans
fix their gaze
on the horizon.

What,
if anything,
will stand to fight
for humans

To bury flowers
is to bury time
(who could ever teach such a thing)
To lay in earth
the hours once spent loving flowers
(who could ever teach such a thing)
To place grief in the soil
so time may begin again
(who could ever teach such a thing)

What,
if anything,
will stand to fight
for humans

In a world
where no struggle exists,
who,
if anyone,
might remain gentle

The Bird of Death

It comes for me, too. No matter where we are in the turning of the seasons, I will no longer try to hide from the bird. Because it pecks at the edge of winter, this world is overfull with the force of life. It is because the bird comes that the seasons are beautiful. It is because the bird has come that flowers bloom. Let it ride the wind— there is no need to resist. The bird is already on its way.

The Girl in the Garden

Poetry calls out
to the child who is alone
Words that reach
the garden of memories
connect to that age
when poetry can be heard
That is
our smaller selves

Even if the flowers once known
have become frightening
poetry says there is nothing to fear, come closer to them
For in the forest
so many more plants exist
There is no escape, says poetry
The words that tremble when spoken aloud
were chased
by our smaller selves

The poems of flowers
born to be read
from the moment they were written
perhaps already knew
they would place
an impression beyond grasp
upon her shoulders

Even now
even if the subject disappears
poetry will carry the scene
That it carried someone
with words
will remain
a secret with the garden
While crushing honeybees
a voice is heard
The poem of the girl
thinks it has learned of death
Death clings to flowers
as if touching
the joy of being alive
and clings
to her poetry

Shinsaku Ashida is a Japanese writer whose work spans poetry, short stories, tanka, haiku, and haiga. His writing has been published or awarded in 180 literary venues, including 133 in Japan and 46 abroad: 32 in the U.S., 4 in Canada, 3 in Norway, 3 in France, 2 in Romania, 2 in Singapore, and 1 in Germany. His poems and prose have appeared in Slant, Poésie/première, EunoiaReview, Lichen, Spillwords Press, Academy of the Heart and Mind, Down in the Dirt, Neologism Poetry Journal, and Trondheim Poesi Café. He has published three books in Japan, and is currently preparing his first international collection. Ashida continues to seek opportunities for global dialogue through poetry.