1 Poem by Kazuko Shiraishi

The Man with Fiery Eyes

      

      he has fire      in his eyes

      when stared at      firmly      I get hot

      even a cold heart      and chilled stomach 

      are warmed up 

      he has the African sun in his eyes

      a man with the pride of the Zulu royal family

      on a break from the revolution

      the meat he roasted for me

      in the oven was so delicious 

      in the living room       his one -year-old twin La and Re

      took turns crying

      the fiery eyes       gently      caressing them

      sang a lullaby

      there was      a moment       warm

      earth      warmed and became happy from the core

      in the living room of the man with fiery eyes

Bionote

Kazuko Shiraishi (1931-2024) was born in Vancouver, Canada and lived in Vancouver till 1937 when moved with her parents back to Japan. She was the foremost Japanese modern poet, and internationally most acclaimed. She got her start in Kitazono Katsue’s VOU avant-garde poetry group. Influenced by Modernism and Surrealism, her first book of poems Falling Egg City was published in 1951. After 1960 she was influenced by American Beat poets and modern jazz. 1970 she won H poetry award for Seasons of Sacred Lust. She was a guest poet at International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 1973. This was a turning point in her life; the experiences and the acquaintances she made in Iowa broadened her horizons and gave her a new sense of Asia and Africa as well as America and Europe. She wrote more than twenty books of poetry, translated into 20 languages, read at poetry festivals on every continent over 30 countries to plant her poems. Shiraishi created her unique poetry reading on stage, unfolding a scroll of her brush written poem on Japanese paper with live music of Trumpet and Saxophone. She received all the major poetry awards Japan had to give, including the Purple Ribbon Medal from the Emperor of Japan in 1998, and Sumerebo Golden Key Award for International Poetry in 2010.

Yumiko Tsumura is a poet and translator of modern Japanese poetry. After receiving BA and MA, and PhD residency in American literature at Kansei Gakuin University in Japan, she joined International Writing Program and earned MFA in poetry and translation from the University of Iowa. New directions published her books of translation of selected poems of Kazuko Shiraishi: Let Those Who Appear (2002), My Floating Mother, City (2009), Sea, Land, Shadow (2017). Her books of English translation of other modern Japanese poets in collaboration with Samuel Grolmes include Tamura Ryuichi Poems 1946 - 1998, cccbooks, 2000. Her books of poetry include Woman of March, Finishing Line Press, 2017, Man of Peace, Black Mountain Press, 2020, All in One, Black Mountain Press, 2021. Recently she has donated three masters of modern Japanese literature---Ryuichi Tamura, Kazuko Shiraishi and Yumiko Kurahashi; original signed books, manuscripts, correspondence. She has published recently: “Analysis of Poetry of Kazuko Shiraishi” Modern Poetry Journal, Shichosha in Tokyo, October, 2024. “Days with Kazuko Shiraishi, Friendship - as her translator” Carillon Street 29- A journal of Poetry and Criticism, in Tokyo, December, 2025. “Your Gift - for Jack Foley, in praise of your eyes” in Lantern Waling Ahead - Collection of tribute poems for Jack Foley, Literature Redefining World, in India, December 8, 2025.