pic09502 Hokusai

JAPANESE SONNETS

1
A Japanese house is quiet and gentle,
Theres a pond with carp shimmering in it.
A special Japanese world,
Where every detail plays a role.
The stone garden serves as a model
Of the unknown universe.
And at night in the house, you will hear
A cricket chirping in response to silence.
Perhaps a samurai lives here?
But Tokyo dictates its scale,
Which negates the cozy world –
A world of respect, masters,
Magical quiet of gardens,
And simple, unpretentious joy.

2
History is like continuity,
Will it be so Japanese? Or
Is fragmentation still possible?
An exciting, dotted style...
Movement in Tokyo is excessive.
And skyscrapers support
The sky – that is, you live nervously
If you happen to be here.
But there is a special Japanese harmony –
Of beauty and harmony.
This harmony is quite subtle,
Can you grasp it?
Im not sure, but Im trying,
Suppressing envy for the Japanese.

3
There is no samurai Japan,
Well, and films about it are decorum.
Japanese light is slowed down. Light
Is the foundation – like gunpowder to a shot...
A monastery is better. Holy relics
Emit magical luminous arcs.
They soften the sensitive heart,
I thought about that during my leisure time.
An ancient fortress. Stone material.
Gray stone is heavy – did it not tire
Over the centuries? Around
There is much water, and lakes shimmer,
Or they talk about greenery,
Their language is unclear, to be honest...

4
We preserve the vessel of Shintoism –
Its golden contents
Are understandable only to them, only to them,
You are not granted this knowledge.
But here is depth – a Shintoist
Can also be Catholic.
Where is the cherry blossom? Ive seen landscapes,
Each trunk beautifully branched.
But a Japanese train flies by.
A fleeting forest landscape.
And then the mountains turn gray.
Their peaks whiten
So wonderfully, you dont believe in darkness.
And people cannot live in it.

5
A master of fishing rods, a master
Of sharpening stones.
Open your souls windows wide
European ones,
Accepting
Japanese light, and then
Your soul, growing
With a new world, sings.
Hieroglyphs-signs.
They contain special knowledge.
The world of calligraphy
Is intricately deep.
A close world and a distant one...
We are all close, understand this...

6
Other haiku sound
Sharper than yokaगिरी.
Japanese garden is better,
A garden as a narrowing width.
The garden is alive, but understand,
How can it think?
I want to calculate the code.
Do not slam doors,
When entering. Do not.
Gliding with your gaze,
How much do you really learn?
Cherry blossoms bloom gently,
Singing something to the sky,
A song free from turmoil.

7
The stones of old fortresses
Would tell many things.
More than a stone garden,
I think – hardly.
Concentration is given to the garden,
Absorbing your thoughts.
A Japanese mystic will compose a poem –
But about what? That there are no losses.
Haiku – and bamboo rustles.
Haiku – and a beautiful view
Of sharp signs on paper.
Silence of Japanese dreams.
The surrounding world is a metamorphosis,
If progress has unfurled its banners...