Tanka Translation 81: Fumiko Nakajo

81  Fumiko Nakajo（中城ふみ子）

もゆる限りはひとに与へし乳房なれ癌の組成を何時よりと知らず

moyuru kagiri hito ni ataeshi chibusa nare gan no sesei o itsu yori to shirazu

as long as they were burning

I offered my breasts to a man

without  knowing

when cancer cells have developed

 

失ひしわれの乳房に似し丘あり冬は枯れたる花が飾らむ

ushinaishi ware no chibusa ni nishi oka ari fuyu wa karetaru hana ga kazaran

a hill in the similar shape

of a breast I lost

withered flowers decorate it

in the winter

 

枇杷の実をいくつか食べてかへりゆくきみもわが死の外側にゐる

biwa no mi o ikutsuka tabete kaeriyuku kimi mo waga shi no sotogawa ni iru

you leave

after eating some loquats

you, too, reside

outside of my death

 

Fay’s Note:  Fumiko Nakajo (1922-1954)   She died of cancer at the age of 32.

from “Gendai Tanka No Kansho 101” (Appreciation of Contemporary Tanka 101) edited by Ken Kodaka, Shinshokan, 1999, Tokyo, Japan