Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Shuntaro Tanikawa

I am me, myself

I know who I am
I am here now
but I may be gone in an instant
even if I am no longer here I am me, myself
but in truth I do not have to be me

I am a plant at least a little
I may be a fish more or less
I am also an ore with a dull sheen
though I don’t know its name
and of course I am almost you

Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten
I am a rhythm in a refrain
I am a subtle wave and a particle 
having arrived, if I may be so conceited,
riding on your heart’s beating rhythm
from the light years of distance

I know who I am
so I know who you are
even if I don’t know your name
even if there is no census record
I am crowding out into you

Feeling happy being wet in rain
feeling at home with the starry sky
cackling at crude jokes
I am me
beyond the tautology of “I am me”

私は私

私は私

私は自分が誰か知っています
いま私はここにいますが
すぐにいなくなるかもしれません
いなくなっても私は私ですが
ほんとは私は私でなくてもいいのです

私は少々草です
多分多少は魚かもしれず
名前は分かりませんが
鈍く輝く鉱石でもあります
そしてもちろん私はほとんどあなたです

忘れられたあとも消え去ることができないので
私は繰り返される旋律です
憚りながらあなたの心臓のビートに乗って
光年のかなたからやって来た
かすかな波動で粒子です

私は自分が誰か知っています
だからあなたが誰かも知っています
たとえ名前は知らなくても
たとえどこにも戸籍がなくても
私はあなたへとはみ出していきます

雨に濡れるのを喜び
星空を懐かしみ
下手な冗談に笑いころげ
「私は私」というトートロジーを超えて
私は私です
Close

I am me, myself

I know who I am
I am here now
but I may be gone in an instant
even if I am no longer here I am me, myself
but in truth I do not have to be me

I am a plant at least a little
I may be a fish more or less
I am also an ore with a dull sheen
though I don’t know its name
and of course I am almost you

Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten
I am a rhythm in a refrain
I am a subtle wave and a particle 
having arrived, if I may be so conceited,
riding on your heart’s beating rhythm
from the light years of distance

I know who I am
so I know who you are
even if I don’t know your name
even if there is no census record
I am crowding out into you

Feeling happy being wet in rain
feeling at home with the starry sky
cackling at crude jokes
I am me
beyond the tautology of “I am me”

I am me, myself

I know who I am
I am here now
but I may be gone in an instant
even if I am no longer here I am me, myself
but in truth I do not have to be me

I am a plant at least a little
I may be a fish more or less
I am also an ore with a dull sheen
though I don’t know its name
and of course I am almost you

Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten
I am a rhythm in a refrain
I am a subtle wave and a particle 
having arrived, if I may be so conceited,
riding on your heart’s beating rhythm
from the light years of distance

I know who I am
so I know who you are
even if I don’t know your name
even if there is no census record
I am crowding out into you

Feeling happy being wet in rain
feeling at home with the starry sky
cackling at crude jokes
I am me
beyond the tautology of “I am me”
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère