1.“There are mountains, there are valleys, and then a beautiful crane is born.
2.Life is like that,
3.So I love origami,” you said.4.
5.Strung along the curtain rail
6.Were countless paper cranes,
7.And outside the window, the sounds of cicadas and summer clouds.8.
9.“But now,
10.I can’t fold them well anymore.
11.I can’t see, my fingers won’t move,
12.It’s no good anymore.”13.
14.The last crane you gave me,
15.That misshapen origami crane,
16.Looked more alive than any perfectly folded one.17.
18.I remember the frail thinness of your wrinkled arms,
19.How they trembled.
20.I had a feeling I wouldn’t see you again,
21.So I couldn’t say goodbye.22.
23.The summer wind blew through, scattering ash before your grave.
24.Now, are you soaring through the sky,
25.Have you become a free bird?26.
27.“Lines crossing over and over make flowers bloom.
28.Life is like that,
29.So I love origami.”30.
31.“No matter how strong you are,
32.You can’t do anything alone.
33.Treasure ‘meetings’ and ‘farewells,’
34.And grow into a splendid flower.”35.
36.The whiteness of your wrinkled arms,
37.The hands that taught me,
38.How to fold an iris flower from paper,
39.I can still fold it beautifully even now.40.
41.Under the midsummer sky,
42.I held up the freshly finished CD high.
43.Can you hear this song?44.
45.Have I become a flower?46.
47.Life is a paper,
48.Fate is a crease.
49.I don’t care how bad it is,
50.I will embrace it as it is—
51.It’s mine.52.
53.It’s me.
Translated by:
Thae(rin)
Japanese music enthusiast and lyrical translator. JLPT N1 certified with more than 15 years of experience in the Japanese and Global music communities.
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