The Stewardess of the Empress Kōka
For the sake of a night
Short as the nodes
Of the reeds of Naniwa
Must I live on,
My flesh wasted with longing?

(from "One Hundred Poems from the Japanese)

transl. by Kenneth Rexroth

Naniwa e no
Ashi no kari ne no
Hito yo yue
Mi wo tsukushite ya
Koi wataru beki

The poem also means, "For the sake of a joint of a reed of Naniwa Bay, shall I wade past the depth-measuring gauge".