Nerdy Poetry
A show quite formative to my youth, Neon Genesis Evangelion keeps popping up in my life right before major exams, reminding me that it's okay to love myself, even if I'm procrastinating by watching anime rather than studying for my tests. The night before my first Calculus II exam, I woke up at three in the morning struck with the idea that I could write haiku to celebrate this series' emergence after ten years of unavailability in North America. Welcome to the Report Card Second Impact, poetry style.
Each haiku is based on a couplet from Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon," which was most unfortunately cut from the Netflix version of the show. References are made to events in the series as well as lines from the show's opening theme, "Cruel Angel's Thesis." (There's a poke at a very meme-able line from the new dub in one English language haiku in particular.)
I wrote these poems first in Japanese, after spending approximately twenty minutes trying to figure out the "rules" of haiku from various English language blog posts, then "translated" them into English. (Is it translation if you're fully aware of authorial intent, as you are, in fact, the author? Probably not. These are probably just Japanese and English versions of the same poems, published simultaneously.) I'm not even close to secure in my Japanese composition abilities, much less when they're applied to poetry rather than prose, but I thought I'd post them online anyway. I might change them after feedback from people who are fluent in Japanese (or who, unlike me, know anything about haiku), so this page will likely be a living document for a bit.
Does she allow it?
Peaceful stars engaged in play;
Lady Milky Way
Oh, flower petals
Onto this deep red planet
Scatter to the ground
Is this gracious love?
The warmth of the galaxy
Overlapping hands
Ever unceasing
Summer colored melody
The cicadas cry
If you have betrayed
The memories that raised you,
Stay here by my side
Is this emotion?
A pathway made of moonlight
Congratulations
星たちを遊ばせるかな天の川
花びらよ真っ赤な星に散ってゆく
愛情か銀河の暑さ重ねた手
止まらない夏色曲や蝉の鳴く
思い出を裏切りにけりそばにいて
感情か月光の道おめでとう
hoshitachi wo
asobaseru kana
amanogawa
hanabira yo
makka na hoshi ni
chitteyuku
aijou ka
ginga no atsusa
kasaneta te
tomaranai
natsuiro kyoku ya
semi no naku
omoide wo
uragiri ni keri
soba ni ite
kanjou ka
gekkou no michi
omedetou