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| Itai |
| (itai, pronounced as it-a-i, means "it hurts" |
| in Japanese) |
| The widow of the tailor came out of the ruins, |
| life cannot be committed to earth. |
| Her smallest child is up to his neck |
| caught in the rubble. |
| Like a wounded tigress she charges, hands |
| transmuted into spades, into pickaxes. |
| Life cannot be committed to earth. |
| Two crimson screams, one within the other, |
| life cannot be committed to earth. |
| Oh, hear the other orphaned voices: |
| "Save us from the darkness of death." |
| Life cannot be committed to earth. |
| Living is as holy as the sky is blue, |
| it cannot be committed to earth. |
| - Itai! Oh my love, how it must hurt. |
| Life cannot be committed to earth. |
| Translated by Feyyaz Kayacan Fergar |
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