Love is the beginning of loneliness

A poem by Shuji Tereyama.

(The original kanji is included in the translation to make the wordplay apparent)

I wrote down the word tree (木)

but it looked so pitiful all alone

so I added another tree (木)

and the trees became a forest (林)

When I look at the word lonely (淋)

I know why the trees are crying (涙)

It's just because when love begins

loneliness comes in

The Tongue Says Lonelines

Just heard this poem from Jane Hirshfield and was moved to put it up here.



The Tongue Says Lonelines

The tongue says loneliness, anger, grief,
but does not feel them.

As Monday cannot feel Tuesday,
nor Thursday
reach back to Wednesday
as a mother reaches out for her found child.

As this life is not a gate, but the horse plunging through it.

Not a bell,
but the sound of the bell in the bell-shape,
lashing full strength with the first blow from inside the iron.

~ Jane Hirshfield
from Come, Thief

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