Day 6 in Hospital

In crown of my head
Dull pain resides

Yes
Since last night
Lung function test
Has been going on.

Entangled by cords
My body lies
With oxygen in nostrils.

Too much oxygen
Too much carbon dioxide
Either in blood
Could cause the headache.

Drawing blood from a vein
Drawing blood from an artery
To check blood oxygen level and
Carbon dioxide level.

On my inner thigh,
Dr. Sunagawa
Was feeling for an artery

Where pulses are felt
An artery is beneath.

Feeling the throbbing under his finger,
He went for it.
The blood flows fast through an artery

“The early summer rains gathering into swift flows, Mogami River.”
As Basho says.
It was surprisingly quick.

Dr. Sunagawa
Attaboy
Thank you very much.

11 AM
From the Office of Health and Welfare of Minato-ku municipal government
Mr. Shintani came
To Review my condition
To upgrade from class 4 to class 5 disability.
Serious interview with a warm smile.

The hospital has given its seal of approval
That I am in need of 24 hr care.
As likely as not
I will be certified as class 5, the highest grade.

To be honest,
While necessary
I don’t wish to
Be in need of care.

All work and no play makes jack a dull boy.
I wish I could earn my bread
by the sweat of my brow.

Longing for Sunday
Obon Holiday
A New Year Holiday
I wish I could be feeling busy.
I wish I could be having fun.

Around this time last year
At Niwano Hotel
Eggplants from Kumamoto I had
Were sweet.

Around this time last year
I was taking classes to learn politics.
I devoted myself
To reinvent Japan.
I meant it, seriously.

Poem by Maria Franki

Edited and translated by J. Ujiie