no matter how the waves may rise,
still, a person rows forward.
from one vast sea,
countless routes begin to branch,
and each small boat
quietly turns its bow
toward a different future.
no one is walking
the exact same course as yesterday.
the direction you choose
is not decided by someone else —
you choose it, and you row.
in the kanji “派”
lives the power to leave the main current,
to split away and form
a new flow of your own.
the rough waves are trials,
but because of them,
the scenery that eventually opens up ahead
will surely be all the more beautiful.
even if each boat looks small
upon the wide, restless sea,
every one of them is alive,
moving, searching,
pressing on toward an unseen world.
each time you look at this piece,
it gently tells you:
it is all right to follow
the branching line of your own path,
and keep rowing on.