50th birthday
a yellow butterfly
matches my paces
Comment: a ku related to the passing of time (toki no nagare 時の流れ) and the fragility (shiori しをり) of life, seen however in a conscious and mature perspective. While the protagonist continues his existential journey by celebrating his 50th birthday, a butterfly (chō 蝶) joins him, reshaping a moment of beauty that seems to conform to his rhythm (his ‘pace’ or hochō 歩調). However, The average life of a butterfly is around 2-3 weeks, so it won’t be able to witness the poet’s future experiences. The true value of this poem consists in living the present moment and feeling part of everything, in harmony with the world. Not surprisingly, yellow stands for positivity, energy and even ‘enlightenment’ in the broad sense.
