MEDITERRANEAN

The water is the same;
it is the reflections are different.
Vigil looked in this
mirror. You would not think so.

The lights' jewellery sticks in the throat
of the fish; open them, you will find a debased
coinage to pay your taxes.

The cicadas sing
on. Looking for them among
the ilex is like trying to translate
a poem into another language.






"Mediterranean,"
from Between Here and Now
You can also find this in
COLLECTED POEMS 1945-1990(J.M.Dent, 1993).


background image: venice 2012 (taken by Yoshifum! Nagata)