Madoka Mayuzumi[Poems of 17syllables]Poem of September

Madoka Mayuzumi[Poems of 17syllables]Title

Drizzling, the lid on the Kyo-lip rouge is out of place.

Kyo(Kyoto)-lip rouge is the type that comes in a set of seashells or a flat container with a lid, and it is applied to the lips with a lip brush or the third finger. Now, this Kyo-lip rouge has been placed on the dresser with its lid out of place.

Did the owner of this lip rouge leave in a hurry, or didn’t she realize the lid was out of place because her thoughts were on the person she was about to meet?

From this lid that is out of place, my imagination is unleashed to explore various explanations of the owner’s feelings and situation. Outside it is drizzling quietly.

[season words] drizzling
[season] winter

Thickly dressed, unexpected reunion at Sannenzaka.

Sannenzaka is a shopping arcade in Kyoto, famous as the place where the painter Yumeji Takehisa once lived with his lover, and also for its many shops with pretty things for women. It is one of the most popular tourist spots in Kyoto because of its romantic atmosphere.

I happened to encounter a dear old friend at Sannenzaka. But, as it was very cold, I was very thickly dressed.

I was so happy about the unexpected meeting, but so embarrassed by the way I looked. It was one little embarrassing scene at Sannenzaka.

[season words] thickly dressed
[season] winter

Warmth in winter, with colorful origami paper folded into cranes and frogs.

Cranes and frogs are folded out of Kyoto’s colorful origami papers. Originally a piece of square paper, it is being transformed into a crane or a frog as if life were being created by someone’s hands.

Sometimes we have one warm sunny day during the cold of winter. The girls who are folding origami as they chatter in the warm winter sun make the warm winter day even warmer.

[season words] warmth in winter
[season] winter

Because she heard him say, “I like this temple in winter.”

“I like that temple in winter.”

Because she heard him casually say, she visited Kyoto in the winter. She wished to understand him better, and to share his thoughts by visiting the temple he liked in the winter.

The temple was quiet and visitors were scarce as it was a very cold day. But her heart must have been filled with warm feelings, because there she was able to meet the image of the man she loved and to know his true heart.

[season words] winter
[season] winter

translated by Mineko Azuma

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