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CHALLENGE #4
Sansho Dayu
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
1954 - Japan - 125 min
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Summary:

Based on an ancient legend, as recounted by celebrated author Mori Ogai, and adapted by Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi, Sansho Dayu is both distinctively Japanese and as deeply affecting as a Greek tragedy. Described in its opening title as “one of the oldest and most tragic in Japan’s history”, Mizoguchi depicts an unforgettably sad story of social injustice, family love, personal sacrifice, and fateful tragedy. Set in Heian era (11th century) Japan, it follows an aristocratic woman, Tamaki (played by
Kinuyo Tanaka), and her two children, Zushio (Yoshiaki Hanayagi) and Anju (Kyoko Kagawa), who are separated by feudal tyranny from Tamaki’s husband. When the children are kidnapped and sold into slavery to the eponymous “Sansho” (Eitaro Shindo), the lives of each of the family members follow very different paths – each course uniquely, and insufferably, tragic.

POEMS FROM THIS CHALLENGE:


A THOUSAND BROKEN HEARTS
By Frank Faaola

I feel the pain of
a thousand broken hearts,
on my knees I pray to God
that he deliver my child to me.
But I only hear the silence of the meadow,
and so I ache to the sound of
a thousand broken hearts.
I feel the pain
of a thousand broken hearts,
when I don't hold you in my arms
and tell you I love you.
I feel the pain of
a thousand broken hearts,
on my knees I beg God
that he bring you back to me.
But all I hear is the sound of
a thousand broken hearts,
yours and mine.

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THE SUN
By Seth Rosenman

Turn trees
into walls.

Divert
the river.

Move earth
with rocks.

Resist rain
and wind,

hunger
and enemies.

Remember
the dead:

survivors of war
and storms.

Teach
the young:

life’s circle
is surrounded,

nothing possible
is torture.

Extend
ripples

into
the void.

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TOXIC HOPE
By Lynn Blue

To steal
And enslave
The seeds,
The fruits
Of a body
Is to mercilessly
Rip the heart
From a soul
Absent the beat
The echo of the
Emptiness still
Bemoans
And yearns the lost
As it hopes
The hope of desperation
For restoration
Yet countless nights
Of unanswered prayers
Questions the validity
Of hope and wonders
How long
Can hope endure… hoping?
How long shall
Grief seek comfort
Before the acceptance
That it is not forthcoming?
How long does a heart
Estranged from the soul
Keep beating
Before it is void
Of all hope?
Until it seeks no more
And finds life
By default, design
Or damnation
Tortuous
And welcomes
The serenity
Of lifelessness.

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UNTITLED
By Ciani Welch

I feel dry in the water
The center of the river
I am alone
Other things live around me
The water pulls at my feet
Breathing with the current
Teasing and tugging
If I break my stance it will take me
But I have already been taken
By the world
Away from them
They are alive
I know it
Our connection is infinite
The river is infinite
We all stand on the same earth
Bound to it
But not to each other
The world around me is alive
We are alive
But I am dead

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UNTITLED
By Ben Sugarman

The water flows along
with the current.
I am a rock in the river:
I do not move, I do not forget.
But now, I am moved.

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UNTITLED
By Jesse Mulkey

My heart seeks release
From this pain of loneliness
Take me to the depths

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UNTITLED
By Jeongmin Ham

Their names are cried out.
Confidence walks into death,
As her sadness falls.

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UNTITLED
By Rob Patchak

For you I will do anything,
I long For You.
For You I will live,
For You I will die.
I long For You.

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UNTITLED
By Nelson Vicens

her heart is broken; the fire diminished
no more tears left to join the water swallowing her up
her family has fallen, their fate forgotten
remembered... when this poor girl has died

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UNTITLED
By Mikey Young

In a search for a way out,
The desperate use any measure.
In a lonely search,
A lonely woman,
Finds a lonely lake.
Step by step, she was engulfed,
And her life, the water takes.

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BEYOND THE HORIZON
By Felicia M. Maisey

Beyond the horizon
hope lies in wait
A lament to yesterday
sealed coffin nails
lined soldiers, witnesses to our fate
One can smell it,
the distinct scent of fear--
Ominous and strange, like acid assaulting tongues;
embittered anguish the taste
Caged by day, alone into the night
our hearts stripped naked,
solitude long mined until vacant
We've been divided, halved
then halved again;
what remains is unrecognizable
The other side
could be more sweet
But inside these walls,
never will we believe
we are kept like animals
despite circumstances-
in spite of our state
The breezes know
what it is that they've seen
They've heard us cry, shielded our screams
And the trees, the trees
they bow down to us
but never when we are awake, nor when it counts
Beyond the horizon
freedom awaits
Like hope, it waits
We breathe, we release
Slaves this side,
we belong to thee
On the other,
simply humbled women, are we.

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