Ooeyama (Koshikibu no Naishi, Hyakunin Isshu No. 60) / Garu JP
"Someone must be feeding you the words"
"It's all your parent's fame, isn't it"
Whispers fill the judging hall
Too bad for you — look at my easy smile
Your ordinary yardsticks? Confiscated
Watch me now — I walk the talk
Paper and pen? Graduated long ago
Words shoot straight from my throat like light
Let them talk all they want
Want them silent? Just show them skill
Mount Oe and the roads of Ikuno may be far
But I go my way with my own words
Not a single borrowed thing on me
These feet, this mouth will carve the path
Haven't set foot there — still I step into the unknown
Every step I take becomes my road
Watch me — this is where I begin
(Mount Oe!) Checkmate
(Fumi mo mizu!) Never hesitating
Stomp the beat — just keep going
A mic drop echoing a thousand years
Long ago, in a poetry-match hall
Adults sneering around one young girl
"Your mother wrote it for you, obviously"
The smug man wore a triumphant face
Her instant reply cut deep
Thirty-one syllables stopped time
No letter seen, no step taken — she won
Two meanings in one word — a perfect shutout
He couldn't even return a verse
Who ran away? The tale still tells
Mount Oe and the roads of Ikuno may be far
That girl stood tall on her own words
One improvised verse — a total reversal
A legend told for a thousand years
Haven't set foot there — but rhymes? I tread them
Born with a gift for wordplay
A counterpunch that made history
(Mount Oe!) Checkmate
(Fumi mo mizu!) Never hesitating
Stomp the beat — just keep going
A mic drop echoing a thousand years
When they mock you — that's your moment to shine
The ones who mocked are now the punchline
The genius's daughter outgrows the genius
The more I polish, the sharper my words
The word "bridge" joins one edge to another
It joins that girl to me, a thousand years apart
Letters, footsteps, rhymes — I'll tread them all
I'll clear walls higher than Mount Oe
Mount Oe and the roads of Ikuno are far away
I've not yet stepped there, nor seen the Bridge of Heaven
Beyond Mount Oe, I'll make it resound
Every doubt they cast just makes me stronger
One verse is proof enough
Excuses? Never needed in this life
Haven't set foot there — still I step into the unknown
My road is mine to decide
Haven't set foot there — but I'll rhyme my way
A thousand years on, I am still me
Mount Oe... fumi mo mizu...
Mount Oe... fumi mo mizu...
