Kids’ Corner: Poem 08

TSUNAMI

by

Varsha Gurumurthy

(age 11)

A poem in Japanese

with an English translation by the poet…

Tsunami

(The Original Poem in Japanese)

.

Sono chi-sana nami wa

Umi no doko kara kuru no?

Doushite anna ni o-kiku natte

Hito o korosu no?

Ano o-kina nami wa tsunami to iu

Daisuki na hitotachi o takusan shinaseru

Itte goran

Tsunami ga dore dake no hito o shinaseta ka

Dare ga shinde shimatta ka?

Anata ni wa kazoeru?

Tsunami no ato ni

Watashi wa sunahama ni kita

Kame ga sono sunahama o aruitekita

Kanashisou ni

Kame ga naita

Tomodachi ga takusan shinda

Nokotta no wa

Watashi dake

Watashi wa kame ni kou itta

Itsu shindeshimauka wakaranai

Dakara shinu toki ga kuru mae ni

Waratte sugoshita hou ga ii

Hito wa yoku

Shinu no ga kowaii to iu

Demo mou shinitai to iu hito mo iru

– Varsha Gurumurthy

….

Tsunami

(The English Translation)

.

That small wave

Where from the sea does it come?

Why does it become so big?

And kill people?

That big wave is called tsunami

It kills many of our beloveds

Go and see

How many people tsunami has killed?

Who all died?

Can you count?

After the tsunami

I came to the sand beach

A turtle came walking to the sand beach

Sadly

The turtle cried

Many of my friends died

Left out is

Only me (should I also die?)

I told the turtle

We don’t know when we will die

So before our death comes

Its better we spend our time always smiling

People often say

Death is scary

But there are people willing to die, (why?)

– Varsha Gurumurthy

….

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