昔に書いた詩 An old poem of mine

【虫歯の牙】

私の牙は

時代に合わず

いわゆる役立たずで

いつか役に立つ日を

待っていた

だけど

虫歯になってしまった

サメのように何回も

生えかわれば

いいのだけれど

大事な牙が

虫歯になった

虫歯になった牙で

あなたを噛めば

あなたも痛いが

私も痛い

いつも少し

口を開けているのは

牙が邪魔をするから

私の牙は

切なさの形をして

ドラキュラみたいに

血は吸えないけれど

ライオンのように

鋭くないけれど

あなたを噛みたい

だけど

虫歯になった牙で

あなたを噛めば

あなたも痛いが

私も痛い

【穴のあいたクツ下】

彼が死んだ時

彼のクツ下には穴があいていた

そう、ちょうど

左足の親指あたりに

彼は生きている間

何かに反抗して生きていたいと

常日頃考えていた

だけど

それが一体何なのか

彼にはわからなかった

彼は熱帯魚を飼っていただけど

熱帯魚はあまり見ずに

プクプク泡の出ているところばかり見ていた

彼は外に出れば

雲ばかり見ていた

雲が動くのを

見ていた

独りだった

それが

彼の誇りでもあった

彼が死んだ時

彼のクツ下には穴があいていた

きっと彼の魂は

そこからどこかへ逃げたのだろう

プクプクと

[The Tooth with Decay]

My tooth,

out of step with the times,

was what people call useless,

waiting for the day it might come in handy.

But it became decayed.

Like a shark, it would be nice

if it could just keep growing back.

Yet this precious tooth of mine

has become rotten.

If I bite you with a decayed tooth,

you will feel pain,

and so will I.

I always keep my mouth

slightly open,

because the tooth gets in the way.

My tooth takes

the shape of sadness.

Like a vampire, it cannot draw blood,

like a lion, it is not sharp,

but still—

I want to bite you.

Yet if I bite you

with this decayed tooth,

you will feel pain,

and so will I.

[The Sock with a Hole]

When he died,

his sock had a hole in it—

right there,

around the big toe of his left foot.

During his life,

he often thought he wanted

to live in rebellion against something.

But he never knew

what that something really was.

He kept tropical fish,

though he rarely looked at them,

watching only the little bubbles rising.

When he went outside,

he would only look at the clouds,

watching them move.

He was alone.

And that

was his pride, too.

When he died,

his sock had a hole in it.

Surely,

his soul must have escaped

through that hole,

bubbling away.