Louis Esterhuizen. Poetry International Web fokus op 97-jarige digter

Met hul nuutste uitgawe fokus Poetry International Web op ‘n heel ongewone digter: die 97-jarige Japannese digter Heiichi Sugiyama. Afgesien van die rariteit dat ons hier te make het met iemand wat op hoë ouderdom steeds aktief aan’t skrywe is, is dit veral Sugiyama se tematiek wat sy lesers telkens laat regop sit. Vir Sugiyama is dit gewoon natuurlik om oor eietydse verskynsels soos sagtebal, snoeker en (singende) sypaadjies te dig; met besonderse poëtiese inspelings, uiteraard:

All I could do was dash on

knowing the pain to come
I struck with all my might
then, what was I to do?
I was sent flying
hitting the wall once again
that moment
a path, totally unexpected,
opened straight up

(“Billiards”, vertaal deur Takako Lento)

 

By wyse van bekendstelling die volgende uit Yasuhiro Yotsumoto se oorsigartikel: “Born in 1914, Heiichi Sugiyama has lived through many dramatic changes in the cultural and social landscapes of Japan, from the liberal and lively 1910s and 1920s of the so-called ‘Taisho Democracy’, during which modernism and lyricism blossomed in the art scene, to the militaristic 1930s leading up to the catastrophic defeat in World War II and the post-war decades of ‘miracle recovery’, during which economy dominated the national mindset.” Interessant genoeg het daar ‘n 24 jaar periode verloop van Sugiyama se debuut in 1943 tot sy volgende bundel 1967. Sy digkuns word beskryf as synde “short and crisp, witty, more visual than musical, philosophical and even metaphysical – without losing touch with day-to-day reality […] There is nothing verbose in Sugiyama’s poetry: it is well controlled by the aesthetic and ethical disciplines of a lyric poet.”

Vir jou leesplesier volg die gedig “The Return of the Prodigal Son” hieronder. Op Poetry International Web is daar twaalf gedigte wat almal deur Tkako Lento vertaal is vir dié spesiale uitgawe.

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The Return of the Prodigal Son

The voices of a huge mob
explode all at once

Something small and white rides the wind
flying high into the sky

On earth three men are running
one has seized the moment to run away from home
one loses himself in pursuit of the thing flying in the sky
one dashes straight ahead, aiming to go home
will the prodigal son be allowed to return home?

In the blue of the blue sky a bird is
slowly walking

 

© Heiichi Sugiyama (Vertaling: 2011, Takako Lento)