black ink

one thousand years of solitude

won’t bring you back

that smile you never encountered

but of which you’ve dreamt a thousand times.

 

Soseki talks of a girl with black hair

for him the translation is simple

Konya wa tsuki ga kirei desu ne

is the truth the poet and lover can never go by

Your truth alone remains in Sempere

that books are alive and stories are told

and that way every each of us is immortal

 

the smile you need is on a blank page

it curls up its lips as you fill it with black ink.

 

 

*art by Japanese artist Ikenaga Yasunari

**Konya wa tsuki ga kirei desu ne: The moon is beautiful tonight. Soseki’s suggestion for an appropriate Japanese translation of the English ‘I love you.’