From Japan with love

The grey on green; the red with golden thread.
She’s neverchanging yet so up-to-trend –
A point of spear is where she found her rest –

Arena of exotic stories and events,
Where sea’s behind no matter where one stands…
My dear country … Be forever blessed!

Here people don’t greet major changes;
Here, in the city of Hikaru Genji,
Streets still have same names like before;

It’s common here to never say too much;
When going north from capitals as such,
You wonder what urbanisation’s for.

Duties oblige. And love will give you status.
People plant rice just like we plant potatoes –

Just take a look at all these even rows!
Perhaps, it’s simply all about training.

The summer heat is burning. It is draining,
And we go search for shade that foliage bestows

Into the ancient gardens; if the luck is ours,
Divine Ono-no Komachi might join us for an hour,
And her immortal lyrics we might hear…

The country that one cannot count or measure,
The country of cicadas, sun and treasures,
On earth, with shiny water edge so near.

She’s there already, standing in the footlights,
Having embraced your fantasies and soul-flights,
Awaiting for you. From the sea and skies,

From emerald of grass and from the grey of bird flocks,
I’ve made a puzzle of a thousand thousand small blocks
For you to finish by the next sunrise.