Haruko Hirano/Japan

Walk beyond the farthest mountain

I walk slowly holding a small thing,

Watching ears of pampas grasses waving,

A tiny butterfly dancing around leopard plants,

Whiskers of polygonum sparkling in the morning light.

Look, here

Is where you lay,

Eating your time,

Belly on the ground,

Listening to the words of earth,

Not sleeping,

Just pretending to sleep.

You believed in nothing,

Nothing is worth believing, 

You didn't look up at the moon or stars,

But you liked human laps,

I loved this honesty of yours.

Hold something as small as a baby

Like a baby...

This simile embarrasses me,

So I deny it,

And do it again,

And dig a hole by a tree.

  In the evening

  My baby as a simile

  (Unable to pretend to be dead)

  ......

I only 

dig a hole here,

And pour soil,

And plant flowers.

Earth,

Be a mother container.

My small thing,

Sleep here

Until you are called by a flower name.