Summer will soon
slumber
between wild flowers.
In our next spring
let’s meet as butterflies
afield
sorrow
100 days…53rd day
The path is hidden
by Dharma,
invisible,
but memories of you
lead me onward
100 days…48th day
Morning and evening
I gazed at
incense smoke –
drifting,
remembering…
100 days…39th day
Nothing
in the world
is usual today
Sorrow is…
evergreen
100 days…38th day
Through the years
I’ve become used to sorrow,
there was not one spring
I didn’t leave behind
the flowers.
~Izumi Shikibu*
*cited:
The Ink Dark Moon
Trans: J Hirshfield & M Aratani
100 days…37th day
If I say
this or that,
how ordinary grief becomes –
broken cries are the words
that sorrow’s voice demands
~Izumi Shikibu*
*cited:
The Ink Dark Moon
Trans: J Hirshfield & M Aratani
autumn’s sorrow
It is unreasonable to ask my tears
to bear the sorrow of autumn,
as the light changes
the color even of the cinnamon tree in the moon
to red and yellow.
~Shunzei’s Daughter*
*cited:
The Burning Heart
K Rexroth & I Atsumi
