永訣の朝/ The Morning of the Final Farewell

 By Miyazawa Kenji

けふのうちに
とほくへいってしまふわたくしのいもうとよ
みぞれがふっておもてはへんにあかるいのだ
（あめゆじゅとてちてけんじゃ）
うすあかくいっさう陰惨〔いんさん〕な雲から
みぞれはびちょびちょふってくる
（あめゆじゅとてちてけんじゃ）
青い蓴菜〔じゅんさい〕のもやうのついた
これらふたつのかけた陶椀〔たうわん〕に
おまへがたべるあめゆきをとらうとして
わたくしはまがったてっぽうだまのやうに
このくらいみぞれのなかに飛びだした
　　　（あめゆじゅとてちてけんじゃ）
蒼鉛〔さうえん〕いろの暗い雲から
みぞれはびちょびちょ沈んでくる
ああとし子
死ぬといふいまごろになって
わたくしをいっしゃうあかるくするために
こんなさっぱりした雪のひとわんを
おまへはわたくしにたのんだのだ
ありがたうわたくしのけなげないもうとよ
わたくしもまっすぐにすすんでいくから
　　　（あめゆじゅとてちてけんじゃ）
はげしいはげしい熱やあえぎのあひだから
おまへはわたくしにたのんだのだ
　銀河や太陽、気圏などとよばれたせかいの
そらからおちた雪のさいごのひとわんを……
…ふたきれのみかげせきざいに
みぞれはさびしくたまってゐる
わたくしはそのうへにあぶなくたち
雪と水とのまっしろな二相系〔にさうけい〕をたもち
すきとほるつめたい雫にみちた
このつややかな松のえだから
わたくしのやさしいいもうとの
さいごのたべものをもらっていかう
わたしたちがいっしょにそだってきたあひだ
みなれたちゃわんのこの藍のもやうにも
もうけふおまへはわかれてしまふ
（Ora Orade Shitori egumo）
ほんたうにけふおまへはわかれてしまふ
あああのとざされた病室の
くらいびゃうぶやかやのなかに
やさしくあをじろく燃えてゐる
わたくしのけなげないもうとよ
この雪はどこをえらばうにも
あんまりどこもまっしろなのだ
あんなおそろしいみだれたそらから
このうつくしい雪がきたのだ
　　　（うまれでくるたて
　　　　こんどはこたにわりやのごとばかりで
　　　　くるしまなあよにうまれてくる)
おまへがたべるこのふたわんのゆきに
わたくしはいまこころからいのる
どうかこれが天上のアイスクリームになって
おまへとみんなとに聖い資糧をもたらすやうに
わたくしのすべてのさいはひをかけてねがふ

My little sister,
About to depart to a place far beyond before the day is out.
The sleet has fallen outside, and it's oddly bright.
(Give me some slush will you Kenj'ya.）
From the clouds of pale-red, that is all the more bleak,
The sleet comes a-dripping and a-drizzling down
(Give me some slush will you Kenj'ya.）
Gathering the sleet snow for you to nibble on,
Inside two chipped porcelain bowls with
The junsai plant painted blue,
I, like a stray bullet,
Darted out into the dark of the falling sleet.

(Give me some slush will you Kenj'ya.）
From the bismuth-colored dark clouds,
The sleet comes a-dripping and a-drizzling down.
Oh Toshiko,
At a time like this,
When you're on the brink of death,
You have asked me for a scoop-full of refreshing snow,
Thank you, my little sister, so giving and brave,
I too will continue ahead straight onward.
(Give me some slush will you Kenj'ya.）
In between the oh-so violent fevers and gasping,
You asked me to get
The last bowlful of snow, descended from the skies,
The realm of galaxies and suns and atmospheres...
.. Upon two quarry-blocks of granite,
where the sleet is lonesomely deposited,
I perched upon it precariously.
And from the glistening pine-boughs
Filled with cold transparent beads that maintain
The hoar-white, two-phase equilibrium betwixt snow and water,
I shall take away the last food for my little sister.
The indigo-colored patterns on the familiar bowls that
We grew up with,
You'll be parted from them too, after today.
(Ora Orade Shitori egumo [I'll just go off on my own I will])

It's true, you really are departing from us today,
Oh, within the enclosure of the patient's room,
On the other side of the dark folding-screen and mosquito nets,
You are burning away with pale blue light,
My little sister, so brave.
This snow is so awfully pure-white, wherever you might choose.
From those frightful, rolling skies,
This beautiful snow has come.
  (I'm gonna be born again, and
    next time, I'll make sure everything won't be so bad
      I hurt so much all the time.)

To those two bowlfuls of snow you're eating,
I will now pray, from my heart.
Oh may this snow now turn into a heavenly ice cream
Providing you and everyone holy sustenance.
This I pray with all the ability I can muster.

What are the ethics of homelessness?

It's not good to give hobos money. That's what we've been told, that is the protocol. I am supposed to feel guilty at losing $2 for giving a man some money he is inevitably going to spend on drugs and alcohol. But who am I to deny some of his lifetime if I refuse? He will just get that same money from someone else, and he will have the same exact outcome. This sounds like an argument against, but what if giving this money made you feel good? You have the illusion that you are helping someone in some small way and you think you are better because of it. Is this wrong, to think in this selfish way? What if I told you all charity you ever do is really to benefit yourself to make yourself feel good and worth something and busy? Could you deny it?