evening paper–
the voices I left
behind me
Comment: a muki 無季 (seasonless) piece of work with a personal touch and a neat juxtaposition that emphasizes a sense of wistful and almost ‘crepuscular’ loneliness (wabi 侘)’. The ‘evening paper’ (probably left on a bench) strengthens the poet’s awareness of the passage of time and the human impermanence, in a subdued (shibui 渋い) but effective poetic framework where the ‘voices’ (koe 声) in line 2 can freely vibrate.
