An Ode to the Summer Stars
So bright you are
glorious abundant stars shower, a downpour across the night sky
Antares, angry red, the brightest star of Scorpion
Forever the target to Saggitarious’ steady arrow
Indus, where might you be, as
the Swan flys gracefully over the flow of milky way
Deneb, a first star shining its tail on a long necked swan
Andromeda, still a cursed captive,
Corona Borealis, still awaiting its king to adorn the crown
star speckels, comets, namesless particles of dust, shine upon us
such is the boundless beauty
I no longer desire jewels on this earth as
I have seen your beauty in our galaxy and beyond
this universe
Noriko Ibaragi (translated by K. Tsuyama, summer 2024)