Takuboku Ishikawa was a Japanese poet. He died of tuberculosis. Well known as both a tanka and "modern-style" or "free-style" poet, he began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets but later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism.
Wikipedia
“Like to a stone
That rolls down a hill,
I have come to this day.”
A Handful of Sand ("Ichiaku no Suna"), as translated by Shio Sakanishi
“Running away
From the window of a classroom,
Alone,
I lay down among the ruins of a castle.”
Source: Modern Japanese Literature, ed. Donald Keene (New York: Grove Press, 1960), p. 208
“With the troubled eyes of a youth
I envied
Birds flying—
Flying they sang.”
A Handful of Sand ("Ichiaku no Suna"), as translated by Shio Sakanishi
