Mother

I am always afraid of my mother,

ominous, threatening,

a pain in the depths of my consciousness.

My mother is like a shell,

so easily broken.

Yet the fact that I was born

bearing my mother’s shadow

cannot be changed.

She is like a cherished, bitter dream

my nerves cannot forget

even after I awake.

She prevents all freedom of movement.

If I move she quickly breaks,

and the splinters stab me.

                                                                                                         ~Nagase Kiyoko*

 

*cited:

Women Poets of Japan

Trans: K Rexroth & I Atsumi