Bonsai of Thought: Ninety-Seven

1. Coming in search of love,
drinking plain milk,
memory returned empty-handed.

2. From your letters flow
light and warmth
that sustain my very breath.

3. Dear little bird!
In this cage of mine,
rest without worry.

4. Come, let us both go
to the very ends of the earth
and see...where peace lies!

5. Within and without
today I am
riddled with answers upon answers!
Will there be any questions?

6. If you wish to understand me,
come to me directly,
not to my poetry.

7. Our nights are illuminated
by a light that is,
fundamentally, ourselves!

8. Even among everyone,
one who is unlike all others
can still be recognized.

9. You yourself do not know
how deep the footprints you left
in this heart
before you went away.

10. In seeking to atone
for my countless mistakes,
are you still,
even today, suffering?

11. You are my breath,
my reason for living,
the sole companion of my thoughts
...yet you belong to another.

12. Will you save me a little?
Living has become so difficult
with remorse and guilt!

13. Even in exchange
for all this life's achievements,
if only I could see you
laughing before my eyes once more!

14. Wait for that day
when in sharp remorse
your soul will gradually
shatter into fragments.

15. I didn't go very far!
In blindness and deafness
I was lost
for just a while.

16. This soul, this existence...
lives not even in the purest love,
but only in peace.

17. There is a long road ahead...
Fear not, walk on;
I am with you.

18. The seed of love
you planted in this heart—
you didn't even wait to see it sprout!?
Such haste! Such hesitation!

19. So much light! So much color!
Come close! Embrace me!
Come, let us both
live soul to soul!

20. Your poetry, your songs...
give me love,
but never grant me freedom!