Classic Poem

In the distance,
blue as a Persian cat's eye,
mountains undulate
& through the basin runs a single
dusty highway: long ago —
various travelers hurry their ways;
passing by the village station,
I feel dizzy
& sit at a tea hut, to rest;
eating pale tokoroten ,
ankoromochi wrapped in mulberry leaves,
& salted myoga ,
I gaze at the feet of the travelers who pass before me;
an iris-like woman resting by my side
talks to me
" I thought so, uuuun "
I can only reply
in a broken Yellow River dialect;
soon
a bearded man,
wailing loudly, pushes aside
the villagers
& goes away.