The Strength to Put Down a Raised Fist Calmly

―To George W. Bush, The 43rd President of the United States of America

 (March 20, 2003)

 

                                     Masaki Suruga

 

Anywhere you get a guy who sucks.
But George,
That cannot be a reason for
Dropping bombs and missiles,
Blowing up arms and legs,
Mincing the flesh of a family, and
Pulling down daughters and wives, soaked in blood.
You see, George.

Once America was cool.
The American men, hard to offend,
Were regarding the dazzling vast land
In broad heart.
Once they were violent.
Righteous explosion, so it seemed,
After a long tolerance.

Listen, George,
You need no dropping of bombs and missiles,
No blowing up arms and legs,
No mincing the flesh of a family,
No pulling down daughters and wives, soaked in blood.
They say Japan was bad.
The chopped up flesh and burned bodies of the Japanese,
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, evaporated into somewhere in the cosmos.
It happened, deservedly, we thought.
But, listen, George,
The Japanese do not forget it.
The revenge lies at the bottom of their heart,
Never forgotten forever.
The European and American savageness
That stormed and colonized the world
Will be remembered.
Africa, Asia, Arabia, they do not forget it
And what Japan did to Asia.

So, listen, George,
Now, why not we all dump our forefathers?
We did it to you, you did it to us, so it repeats.
This is the way of our forefathers, all fools,
way
The ghosts, they spur us at every chance.
We did it to you, you did it to us, so it repeats.
Let us, everyone, dump the forefathers that lived that
way.

So, listen, George,
Let us remember, we had ancestors of different nature.
The calm strength to put down a raised fist,
That is the deed of man every country praises.
The calm strength to put down a raised fist,
Every country has these men.
And they say NO, smiling.

The most splendid use of strength
Is to hold the strength.
Was it Thucydides who said so?
Only the strongest can put down his raised fist.
Out of the fist that goes down
Come out the first flower and various futures opening.
In the futurity
The Iraqi children and girls who did not die in 2003,
See, George,
Will give a warm look
To you

 

（Translation into English: Yukiko Akagawa）