Small Fort
Written by Mariko Sumikura
Translated from the Japanese by the Poet
Narrated by Bill Wolak
Japan
I’m fighting every day
Even at midnight, too
Against the enemy
Something small
Something big
Something visible
Something invisible
Something worrying me
Something making me sad
Something unpleasant
Something making me weaken
Something making me depressed
I’m fighting
Even now
I’m fighting
With these words
This war doesn’t end
I should not be defeated
I don’t have any allies
I am fighting alone
This is a war with myself
Against weakness of mind
If there is an open slit
Where my defense becomes loose
The enemy is applying an all-out attack
This fort is built
With carefulness
I save some food
Waiting for a decisive battle
When is the attack?
How will they come?
Is it midnight?
Then, I won’t sleep
Is it moving now?
Then, I won’t go out
Is it already inside?
Then, I won’t put in
If I have to raise a white flag
I don’t fight from the beginning
I win or fall, the result is one
I fight with the violence of a Samurai
I’m also fighting today
I hear the sound
The enemy resigns
And retreats at last
I hear the sound
of the hoof
An Archangel leads reinforcements
from a far place
They appear raising a cloud of dust
Even though at a small fort
I should not give up against the enemy
In a war