Eyes refuse sleep
In night of Spring
I lie in bed –
How deep the night!
From one side comes the ocean’s sound
Skylight overhead
In the sky the birds converse.
And then, where do they vanish?
Scent of their wings fills the air.
Taste awakes in the body in this night of Spring
The eyes refuse sleep;
Through the window a constellation’s ray descends,
In the wet sea wind
My heart grows tranquil;
Everyone is everywhere asleep –
On this shore, whose time is it to lift anchor?
On the ocean’s other shore – the distant shore
On some Mount Meru
Lived all these birds;
Chased by a blizzard in crowds upon the ocean
They then fell –
Like man descends oblivious of death!
Tawny – golden – white – within fluffy wings
In their little rubber ball-like chests
Resided their lives –
Like Death resides over a million miles in the mouth of the ocean
In truth as unfathomable!
Life exists somewhere – the taste of life persists
Somewhere there is fresh water – not ocean’s bitter foam,
Like balls of play their hearts
Have known this; –
Somewhere behind are the frozen wastes, to summer
They have come.
Then departing for some field
In sky-tracks journeying with its beloved
What says it?
It’s time for their first egg to be hatched.
After digging through much sea salt, the savor of earth appears
Love and the child of love
And that nest,
This taste – deep – profound.
On this Spring night
Eyes refuse to sleep
On this side is heard the oceans roar
Skylight overhead
In the sky the birds converse.
