JAPONISME Turns Three!

1795

.遠かたや青田のうへの三の山
ochikata ya aoda no ue no mitsu no yama

far distance--
above green rice fields
three mountains

1804

.雨だれや三粒おちてもけさの秋
amadare ya san tsubu ochite mo kesa no aki

from the roof's overhang
three drops...
first autumn morning

1812

.露三粒上野の蝉の鳴出しぬ
tsuyu mi tsubu ueno no semi no nakidashinu

three dewdrops--
Ueno's cicadas
break out into song

1817

.雪どけや鷺が三疋立臼に
yuki-doke ya sagi ga sambiki tachi usu ni

snow melting--
three herons perch
on the rice cake tub

1820

.親と子の三人連や帰る雁
oya to ko no sannin-zure ya kaeru kari

parents and child
three in a row...
the geese depart 1

APRIL

Nympharum membra disjecta

Three spirits came to me
And drew me apart
To where the olive boughs
Lay stripped upon the ground:
Pale carnage beneath bright mist.

Ezra Pound

DRINKING ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHT

A pot of wine among flowers.
I alone, drinking,
without a companion.
I lift the cup and invite
the bright moon.
My shadow opposite certainly makes us three.
But the moon cannot drink,
And my shadow follows the motions of my body in vain.
For the briefest time are the moon and my shadow my companions.

Oh, be joyful! One must make
the most of Spring.
I sing—the moon walks forward rhythmically;
I dance, and my shadow shatters
and becomes confused.
In my waking moments,
we are happily blended.
When I am drunk, we are divided
from one another and scattered.

For a long time I shall be obliged to wander without intention;
But we will keep our appointment by the far-off Cloudy River.

Li-Po

years, that is

walk like an egyptian

All the old paintings on the tombs
They do the sand dance don't you know
If they move too quick (oh whey oh)
They're falling down like a domino

All the bazaar men by the Nile
They got the money on a bet
Gold crocodiles (oh whey oh)
They snap their teeth on your cigarette

Foreign types with
the hookah pipes say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian

[The] Blonde waitresses take their trays
They spin around
and they cross the floor
They've got the moves
(oh whey oh)
You drop your drink then they bring you more

All the school kids so sick of books
They like the punk and the metal band
When the buzzer rings (oh whey oh)
They're walking like an Egyptian

All the kids in the marketplace say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian

Slide your feet up the street
bend your back
Shift your arm then you pull it back
Life['s] hard you know (oh whey oh)
So strike a pose on a Cadillac

If you want to find all the cops
They're hanging out in
the donut shop
They sing and dance (oh whey oh)
[They] Spin the clubs cruise down the block

All the Jap- anese with their yen
The party boys call the Kremlin
And the Chinese know
(oh whey oh)
They walk the line like Egyptian

All the cops in the donut shop say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian
Walk like an Egyptian

The Bangles