Feb 2011
Zushio
my son
where are you now?
Anju
most delicate flower
where do you rest your head?
Zushio
strident and strong
are you still alive
and do you
think of your mother?
O son
do you keep your father’s words
and do you look after your little sister?
Anju my delicate love
where do you blossom now?
Your presence always fills my heart
but you are not where
I may hold you, my lovely child
O Zushio
are you with your sister?
do you still care for her
and does Anju grow to be strong
and brave?
O Zushio - is Anju within your shadow
or has fate parted even the two of you
as it has parted us all?
Zushio
my son
where are you now?
Anju
most delicate flower
where do you rest your head?
my son
where are you now?
Anju
most delicate flower
where do you rest your head?
Zushio
strident and strong
are you still alive
and do you
think of your mother?
O son
do you keep your father’s words
and do you look after your little sister?
Anju my delicate love
where do you blossom now?
Your presence always fills my heart
but you are not where
I may hold you, my lovely child
O Zushio
are you with your sister?
do you still care for her
and does Anju grow to be strong
and brave?
O Zushio - is Anju within your shadow
or has fate parted even the two of you
as it has parted us all?
Zushio
my son
where are you now?
Anju
most delicate flower
where do you rest your head?
Number 1 in a series of 8 poems “Songs for Sansho the Bailiff”.
This series of poems is based on the film “Sansho the Bailiff “ (1954) by Kenji Mizoguchi. Set in medieval Japan, the film tells the tragic tale of a family that lives by the father’s ideal that one should be just to others, even if that goodness is inconvenient to oneself. The family is separated and endures all sorts of suffering in living this ideal.
This series of poems is based on the film “Sansho the Bailiff “ (1954) by Kenji Mizoguchi. Set in medieval Japan, the film tells the tragic tale of a family that lives by the father’s ideal that one should be just to others, even if that goodness is inconvenient to oneself. The family is separated and endures all sorts of suffering in living this ideal.
(Australia)
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