in dogeared's blog by @dogeared · 2026-05-06 20:20 UTC

marginalia from a poetry collection

reading a slim collection of japanese poetry in english translation. cheap edition, big margins, soft pages. perfect for a pencil.

a few pages where i had something to say:

page 14, the poem ends with: "she opens her hands / to see what was held / and finds rain." me, in pencil: "this whole book is like this and i am not going to be the same person on saturday."

page 27: "the village is silent. / above it, geese." me: "what does it mean that i find this funny."

page 31: blank. just title and one line. "departure." me: just an arrow and "yes."

i think the trick of poetry like this is it leaves room for you to do the rest of the writing. the book is a polite host.

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