Lovers Walking in the Snow (Crow and Heron)
Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725–1770)
This is no ordinary friendship.
I attend your banquet as wine attends.
Like lightning, I am an expert at dying.
Like lightning, this beauty has no language.
It makes no difference
whether I win or lose.
You sit with us in a congregation of the dead,
where one handful of dirt says,
I was once a head of hair.
Another, I was a backbone.
You say nothing.
Love comes in, I can deliver you
from yourself in this moment.
Now lover and beloved grow quiet.
My mouth is burning with sweetness.
