Poetry By Takako Itoh | A popular poet of modern Japan

Takako Itoh

[Release/Call my name]

I have a night dream that always ends sadly.
I dream that I will meet you somewhere, someone I've never met before.
I know your name and I call you.
 
Sometimes,
You just pass by.
 
Other times,
You look at me strangely as if you don't know me.
 
Other times,
You can't even hear my voice and are chatting with someone in the distance.
 
Whenever I have this dream, I wake up in my own tears.
It's a dream I've had repeatedly since my twenties.
 
Last night, I had that dream.
Unlike the usual, it didn't end sadly.
I dream that I will meet you somewhere, someone I've never met before.
I know your name and I call you.
 
You were leaning against a gray tile wall and wearing a silk white suit.
You were quietly gazing into the far distance.
 
And when I called out to you,
I saw your smile for the first time.
I felt like I was released from a long-held curse.
 
I want to see another chapter of that dream.
Next, please try calling my name from you.
My name that your heart should know.
 
I look forward to seeing you again.
[Silvery moon in summer]
Summer bends the scenery,
transporting me to another place on Earth.
The smell of burnt dust, the rhythm of the drums,
the dancing heartbeat's mirth.
Live proudly, so sings the Earth.
I am who I am; I can't be anyone else, for what it's worth.
I'll plant my favorite pink roses, so that you'll notice me soon,
Under the dazzling light of the silvery moon...

[Love’s experience points]
Perfume in my sense.
 
It felt like a destiny woven before my birth, my past, rewritten countless times.
The memories of my childhood were like delicate, bittersweet pastel hues.
On that day, I forgot you, I lost myself, and merely existed, just breathing.
Yet, those memories of that time were like sweet and bitter whiskey, intoxicating.
Now, once more, you have found me, and I gaze upon you, like gentle and ephemeral candlelight.
The experiences of the past have layered, filling the shelves of my heart.
That’s what those traces are the points that I can offer to you.
To love you deeply more in an everlasting way…

[Each hand] 

My heart is woven with threads of sensitivity,
and at times, I feel everything about you.
Your voice, your breathing, your warmth,
Even the sight of your hair dancing in the wind,
The air within my heart embraces these things.
Each hand, which we held long ago,
is waiting for the far-off bright sunlight beyond the deep fog.
I gaze at the sky,
hoping that scene will become a reality every single morning...

Takako Itoh

*Summary:

Takako Itoh is a Japanese poet, digital artist, and story creator. She loves words, especially loves writing a poem in English. She began to write poems from 2007 to 2009 through MySpace.com. Once she stopped writing from 2010 to 2022. She again began writing poems in March,2023. Her unique style of writing is influenced by traditional Japanese style of Haiku, and Tanka. From 2024 onwards, she is also focusing on creating image videos based on her own original poetry. She trusts that visual movies can expand reader’s imagination to linger in their minds as vivid shadow. Her dream is to heal sadness in a gentle way all over the world and her words bring the light for peace.

[Awards]:

[Outstanding award in 2008, Poetry. com]

[The best poem award in 2007, Poetry com]

[CBIC first annual Poet and Artist award 2025]

[International Beat Poet Laureate (2025-2026)]