Quiver

from Quiver by Ken Yoshikawa

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about

I actually didn't know what to call the album, and then after having recorded all of the other tracks I wrote this one when I was up doing a theatre job in Tacoma. It all made much more sense after that.

As for all the Japanese,
well,
it sounds much better in Japanese
trust me.
Plus, I have no idea what a Japanese Japanese person would think about it. They'd probably think its weird.

but transliterated:

Yumemi, yumiya
Aijyou yokeruna
kyou no kagami no gamen wo gaman yori
kuuki no amasa ni awase
yabuttemo yoroshii, kimi ga jyuubun. Miro
yama no yokoniaru nihyakko no kumogami
ano yasashii arashi aru
kono kanashimi arau tame

lyrics

Quiver

Quiver
for the moonlight
in our palm lines,
a library of star signs;
a chamberful of salt remembers each kindness,
while true faults make maps for lost pilots who forgot how to stop:
not to hear and respond,
but to listen and bond;
that there’s less at the top,
but more in the silence.
Take good note and file it,
but more than just save it,
to savor the feedback as lilacs to leylines;
aligned by the facts, hold back what reacts;
when lost becomes labor,
charm demons with violets to vapor.

No matter what’s happened, remember there’s still air here.
No hope is vanity once put to action;
even if it’s breathing,
the physics remains the same in any language

夢見、弓矢
愛情避けるな
今日の鏡の画面を我慢より
空気の甘さに合わせ。
破っても宜しい。君が十分。見ろ
山の横にある二百個の曇神
あの優しい嵐ある
この悲しみ洗う為、
So let it.

I’m talking in my sleep, because my heart speaks Japanese.
And I believe in you like I believe in gravity,
which means I don’t understand,
but I know you’re there
to watch my step
though I may still fall,
but your soft eyes accelerate no problem at all
and I wake,
right next to you,
with a quiver full of moonlight
and my gratitude.
ありがたい
Good morning.

credits

from Quiver, released March 30, 2019

license

about

Ken Yoshikawa Portland, Oregon

Ken Yoshikawa is a shin-issei/first generation half-Japanese American poet-actor from Portland, OR. He has been active in the Portland Poetry Slam community since 2014. He loves blue chicken taco trees and resents punctuation and grammar at his convenience. ... more