Because the task for today’s practice session was to choose and write one letter from our own name, in other words, the same as the last time, this time I chose one from my mother’s name.
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今日のお稽古の課題は、先日と同じように自分の名前から一文字とって書く、というものでした。それで、私は母の名前から一字書きました。
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In our garden, primula flowers are beginning to bloom year in, year out. My mother told me my granddad liked this flower and when she got married and came to our house to live, the flowers were already there.
My mother and I didn’t know the name and used to call this flower “granddad’s flower” until the lady next door who is a keen gardener taught us it was “primula”.
Granddad/
Is a very warm/
Stub/
Translation and calligraphy by Tomoko
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今年も毎年のように庭のプリムラが咲き始めました。母によると、祖父がこの花が好きだったようで、母がお嫁に来た時には既に咲いていたそうです。母も私もこの花の名前を知らなかったので、「おじいちゃんの花」と呼んでいました。ガーデニングがお得意のお隣の奥さまに教えてもらうまで。
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Today I paid a visit to the grave of my mother’s family, which I do twice a year.
In my mother’s hometown, I have always felt more sunlight, that is, less shaded areas, and the air with much more dusts compared to Kyoto, my hometown.
In the spring sunlight/
Only dusts are/
Rising up/
Nothing has changed/
In mom’s hometown/
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今日は、母の実家の墓参りをしてきました。だいたい年に２回のペースでしますが。
母の実家の町は、私が生まれ育った京都に比べるといつも陽射しが多くて、つまり日陰が少なくて、埃っぽい気がします。
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My mother’s name is Kinue and mine is Tomoko. I put these sounds Ki, Nu, E, Tomo, and Ko at the beginning of each line and wrote a poem.
I got this idea from a wonderful poem with a warm taste I found at a calligraphy exhibition I visited the other day.
Apparently, a mother wrote a poem putting the sounds of her daughter’s name at the beginning of each line, which I heard made the daughter so very happy. I tried the same manner.
Who are you?
What a strong bond we have had!
Like a coloring picture/
Let us continue painting together/
This picture of our lives, so VIVID/
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母の名前は、絹江。私の名前は知子。それで、その文字を行の頭に置いて歌にしてみました。
このアイデアは、先日見学した書展で、お母さんがお嬢さんのお名前でほのぼのとした良いお歌を書いておられるのを見て、ちょっと真似したものです。それで、お嬢さんはとても喜ばれたそうです。
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This is another one I sent to the exhibition. It has my own tanka and haiku about my mother and looking after her. However, as I was afraid my poetry writing was not good enough to convey my feelings and present situation, I put a commentary as well.
Star and Moon/
Facing each other like smiling at each other/
To their beauty/
Mother offers/
Gratitude/
Taking old mother’s hand/
Flying in the universe together/
Starlit night/
I was pleasantly surprised to see my mother offering her gratitude to the beauty of the Venus and the Moon facing each other as if they were smiling at each other, when I put her in her wheel chair and went out for a short walk, because she became fretful after dinner one evening in fall.
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新春書藝展に出品したもう一つの作品です。母のこと、介護のことを短歌と俳句に書いて、それだけでは拙くて分かってもらえないといけませんから解説も付けました。
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My mother and I went to the new-year exhibition of the works by our teacher and her students. My mother is smiling so delightedly. Just as the last year, I asked her to write one letter, this time “flower”.
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先生のお弟子たちのグループ展で。
今年も母に一文字だけ書いてもらいました。今回は「花」。
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I chose a tanka by Hakushū Kitahara for a collaboration work with my mother. As I did last year I asked her to write the last one letter meaning “flower”.
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白秋の短歌を書きましたが、最後の一文字だけ母に書いてもらいました。去年と同じです。
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This is what I desire the most at the moment, peace of mind. However, I definitely want to keep on challenging even for the sake of my mother who continuously gives fits to me.
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今一番欲しいもの。でも、挑戦はし続けたい。私を心配させ続ける母のためにも。
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My mother with mental disorder seems to be forgetting many things from the past. She definitely liked shaved ice, however, it doesn’t interest her any more at present.
Kindness called forgetting/
Oh, shaved ice/
Translation and calligraphy by Tomoko
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精神を病んでいる母は、昔のことをどんどん忘れていっているようです。かき氷が大好きだったのに、今では興味も示しません。
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Do you often hug your mother? This kind of physical contact is not very common in Japanese parent-child relation. However, since my mother became mentally ill, it is a daily occurrence for us. Strangely enough, I no longer feel hesitant or shy to offer a hug or express my true feelings to her.
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お母さんを抱きしめたりしますか。私は、母が精神を病んでからというもの、しょっちゅう抱きしめています。そういうことや、心の底の本音を話し合うことが不思議に自然にできるようになりました。
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