miyazawa kenji

untitled

neither yielding to rain
nor yielding to wind
yielding neither to
snow nor to summer heat
with a stout body
like thatwithout greed
never getting angry
always smiling quiet-
ly
eating one and a half pints of brown rice
and bean paste and a bit of
vegetables a day
in everything
not taking oneself
into account
looking listening understanding well
and not forgetting
living in the shadow of pine trees in a field
in a smallhut thatched with miscanthus
if in the east there's a
sick child
going and nursinghim
if in the west there's a tired mother
going and carrying
for her
bundles of rice
if in the south
there's someone
dying
goingand saying
you don't have to be
afraid
if in the north
there's a quarrel
or a lawsuit
saying it's not worth it
stop it
in a drought
shedding tears
in a cold summer
pacing back and forth lost
calleda good-for-nothing
by everyone
neither praised
nor thought a pain
someone
like that
is what I want
to be.

trans unknown

you can hear it in the original and see a different translation here