Izumi Shikibu: [although the wind...]

Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.

--translated by Jane Hirshfield

Izumi Shikibu: In This World

In this world
love has no color
yet how deeply
my body
is stained by yours.

Izumi Shikibu: Things I Want Decided

Which shouldn’t exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?

Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you are alive?

Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?

Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things—
the swift rapids,
a flowing river,
or this human world?

Izumi Shikibu: Why did you vanish…

Why did you vanish
into empty sky?
Even the fragile snow,
when it falls,
falls in this world.

Translation by Jane Hirshfield

Izumi Shikibu: Even if I now saw you

Even if I now saw you
Only once,
I would long for you
Through worlds,
Worlds.