Spring Rain

February 28th

I heard the rain

Raining steadily.

In a wheelchair

I can't go to work.

The end of the month is the busy time.

I'm sorry for not reporting to.

Naoko ma came over during her lunch break to

Heat up chicken cooked in tomato sauce.

I'm grateful.  It's delicious.

I ate up.

I'm grateful for Mari, who cooked it for me.

I ate croquettes, too.

I haven't had a lunch for a while.

It's nice to eat.

Even unstable, I need to go to the kitchen more often

To heat up meals, not to lose weight more.

The housekeeper came.

The apartment became spic and span.

I am grateful.

In the freshly cleaned apartment,

We gathered; Ms. Grasshopper, Naoko ma, KP and I.

We ate stew, octopus balls, pan fried udon noodle, meat balls with black vinegar sauce.

Beer, Sake, makgoli

Ms. Grasshopper and Naoko ma brought.

The music I used to listened to when I was healthy

Was playing.

The memory of then came back.

With two legs I walked.

I went to New York, Germany, Canada and Bahamas.

I traveled all over the world.

Ski, skate, snorkel.

I tried everything

Sprightly I was.

It's raining steadily in the afternoon of February.

I closed my eyes silently.

The sprightly me is laughing.

The sprightly me is running.

The rain was beating the window pane hard and loud.
I opened my eyes to see the same white ceiling.
The sprightly me is no more.
The sprightly me can't laugh.

How I could accept this fate
Tell me, spring rain.

Poem by Maria Franki

Edited and translated by J. Ujiie

©2011