Month: Sep 2026

2021:
vegheati-mi pasii,
frunze-ale amurgului,
carari de toamna!…

2022:
carari de toamna –
decorul razelor, o
dantela de foc…

2023:
dantela de foc:
al iernii este toamna
voal de mireasa…

2024:
voal de mireasa:
evantaiul frunzelor,
imbracand Toamna…

2025:
imbracand Toamna
in tesaturi brodate
din lacrimile…

2026:
din lacrimile
unui vis de vara, iti
pictez frunzele…

record of a night too brief – hiromi kawakami

*******

SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT

How would one describe the girl now, as she was inside the box? It was like she was there, only she wasn’t; or like she wasn’t, except that she was. Or maybe she occupied an indeterminate state of being, both there and not there, in exactly equal amounts.

*******

Why did I smash the box? I thought bitterly. But how could I have stopped myself?
How could anyone endure such a state, of having someone there and not there—not there and there—at the same time? Deeply indignant at this quandary of quantum physics, I cried and cried.

record of a night too brief – hiromi kawakami

*******

My mass had been missing for a while. You tend to assume that without any mass you wouldn’t exist. But I was definitely there. Hard to believe, but it was true.

*******

The light was shining out of a corner of the night sky.

*******

Her hand as she touched my lips smelt of the night.

2021:
flori de ciresi
scuturandu-se lent in
sotronul vietii…

2022:
sotronul vietii
se joaca din petale,
nu pietricele…

2023:
nu pietricele
sunt cele pretioase,
ci vietuirea…

2024:
ci vietuirea
rozului nepamantesc –
al parfumului…

2025:
al parfumului
efect misterios: cum
de fericire?…

2026:
de fericire,
si spiritu’-mi se-nclina:
ce reverenta!…

2021:
campii de orez –
tablouri de teatru si
arta si picturi…

2022:
arta si picturi –
decor semi-efemer
pe scena vietii…

2023:
pe scena vietii,
fiecare orizont,
propria-i cortina…

2024:
propria-i cortina,
privirii ii devine
etern – (s)clipire…

2025:
etern – (s)clipire:
azurul cerului de
vara, efemer…

2026:
vara, efemer,
ma mai racoresc niste –
ganduri de iarna…

record of a night too brief – hiromi kawakami

*******

No matter how much I poured into the cup, it never filled. And then I realized that the liquid I assumed to be coffee had, unbeknownst to me, turned into night.
Peering into the night as it poured into the cup, I could see tiny stars and gases whirling near the surface, and down at the bottom, something laughing. In dismay, I took the cup to a sink, and tipped it so that all the night it contained would spill out, but as long as I held it there, the night kept on flowing, interminably.

record of a night too brief – hiromi kawakami

*******

The scent of her breath was like the odour of lilies at full bloom, and the sound of her breath coming out of her mouth was like a butterfly faintly beating its wings.

*******

The girl became more and more mixed and homogeneous with me, until in the end I lost track of whether the girl was me, or I was the girl. It was only then that I started to love her, and to miss her. I loved and missed something I couldn’t define, some combination of us both.

2021:
luna-capsunea,
in pasteluri fondante
indulcind noaptea…

2022:
indulcind noaptea,
culorile capata
iz de dulceata…

2023:
iz de dulceata:
dintr-o fotografie
irump dulci-priviri…

2024:
irump dulci-priviri:
Regina Noptii oare-i
Luna sau Floare?!…

2025:
Luna sau Floare?!…
cerul noptii inflorit,
intr-un trandafir.

2026:
intr-un trandafir,
cuvinte de dragoste;
oare va-nflori?…

2021:
ne indepartam;
si totusi, in privire
imi esti aproape.

2022:
imi esti aproape:
fire invizibile
inca ne leaga…

2023:
inca ne leaga
doua destine, doar o
destinatie…

2024:
destinatie:
cand zapada culmilor
se desface-n nori.

2025:
se desface-n nori
un cer cu soare – joaca
de-a fantezia.

2026:
“de-a fantezia” –
titlu de roman visat,
tren de vacanta…

record of a night too brief – hiromi kawakami

*******

When she sang high notes, flocks of birds took flight from the branches of the gingko trees. When she sang low notes, the earth heaved, and small furry creatures emerged from underground and crawled about.
[…]
the singer commenced singing. It was as if an immense musical instrument was filling the firmament with sound, or as if the melody of her song was swimming through the skies… In the next moment her voice had overwhelmed all else, and rather than listening, we seemed to be encompassed within it. No longer able to know the words, we were conscious only that her lilting voice was, slowly and powerfully, all around us.

*******

“Where are we going?” I enquired. The girl nodded several times, her eyes closed, looking unworried.
“Where?” I asked again.
“The night,” she replied.
With that, her head tilted downwards, and she fell into a deep sleep. She was carried along as she slept.
Now a part of the chaos, alongside the girl, I entered the night.