Akiko Yosano Tankas Approved

Translator Sanford Goldstein has graciously allowed me to reprint Akiko Yosano’s tankas in Dizzy Sushi.

#97

Those Plum Blossoms in the poem
You wrote at parting—
They weren’t on your mind. . .
Last autumn she was the one
Leaning against this post

#144

On that cold morning
in Kyoto,
Frozen stiff,
The tip of the writing brush
Borrowed to paint my lips!

Tagged: Akiko Yosano, Kyoto, poetry