Sodenonaka
from issue Number 2, September 2009
by Akehiro Shirai

Coming back home
after drinking on a Sunday
I noticed you being just
like you always are.

You were watching TV
and you came to me,
fixed me some salad
and a bowl of rice, asking "Care for some kim chee?"

Today's gonna be a fine day
I thought in my foggy mind
which was working
better than I thought.

You said to me
"Do you want to see them?"
I didn't see the paper bags
along the wall behind us
"I will change my clothes.'
You came back and

it was a blouse;
two extra ribbon-like cuffs
curl around
the dark azure collars.

Now I noticed why I've felt good
since I passed the entrance.
It's been leaking
out of the paperbag.

I put both of my hands
in your unoccupied cuffs,
placed them on your shoulder.

Translated from the Japanese by Jay Otsuka. The original poem appears in the collection Kusamakura, published in 2007 by Kashin-sha, Tokyo, Japan.

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About the Author
Akehiro Shirai's work has been featured in Gendai-shi tecyou ("Modern Poetry Notebook") and other journals.