Waga seko ga keru kinu usushi sahokaze wa itaku na fuki so ie ni itaru made

我が背子が着る衣薄し佐保風は
いたくな吹きそ家に至るまで

Roma-ji: Waga seko ga keru kinu usushi sahokaze wa itaku na fuki so ie ni itaru made
English Translation: The robe that he wears,
my dear one, is thin indeed—
wind of Saho, you,
do not blow so hard on him
until he has reached his home
Meaning: The robe my dear boy is wearing is thin. Wind of Saho, do not blow too hard until he reaches home.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 979

Headnote: "A poem given by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue to her nephew Yakamochi as he returned from Saho to the western residence"
The poem asks the wind of Saho not to blow too hard until her nephew Yakamochi reaches home, since the robe he wears is thin. According to the headnote, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue gave it to her nephew Ōtomo no Yakamochi when he was returning from the house at Saho to the western residence. The character used in the headnote here refers to a brother's son, that is, a nephew.
Worrying about the young nephew going home in thin clothes, she calls on the wind not to blow, a gesture overflowing with an aunt's tender affection. "Waga seko" is originally a word with which a woman addresses a husband, lover, or other close man, but here it fondly refers to her nephew Yakamochi. Saho lay to the northeast of the Nara capital, and the Ōtomo clan had its residences there.
The poet, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and a half-sister of Tabito. She was Yakamochi's aunt, and later her daughter, Lady Sakanoue the Elder, became Yakamochi's wife.

Following the preceding poem, 978, which voiced the lament of old age facing death, this poem shows concern for young Yakamochi, who is just making his way into the world, so that age and youth stand side by side in the arrangement. After this poem comes the sequence of moon poems that begins with the next poem, 980.
The first line, "The robe that he wears," together with "my dear one" in the next, renders "waga seko ga," which adds "my" to "seko," a word for a dear man, and here refers to her nephew Yakamochi.
The second line, "my dear one, is thin indeed," means that the robe he wears is thin; reading "to wear" as "keru" is an ancient usage. The sense breaks here, on the conclusive form of the adjective "usushi," after the second line.
The third line, "wind of Saho, you," refers to the wind blowing over Saho. Treating the wind as a person, she singles it out with the particle "wa" and calls upon it.
The fourth line, "do not blow so hard on him," means "please do not blow too hard," with "na ... so" expressing a gentle prohibition. The form of a request made to the wind reveals her care for her nephew.
The final line, "until he has reached his home," sets a limit to the request of the fourth line, conveying "at least while he is on the way home." The line has an extra syllable.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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