LITTLE YELLOW FLOWER
by Matsuo Bashō
Slender, so slender
its stalk bends under dew –
little yellow flower
Photo: James Jordan, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Archives for posts with tag: Japanese literature
FLOATING WORLD
by Taigu Ryōkan
If the sleeves
of my black robe
were more ample
I’d shelter everyone
in this floating world.
Photo: ”Gull feather & midnight sun, Nome, Alaska” from the postcard book: Sierra Club Nature in Close-Up. ©David Cavagnaro,1988, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Find the 160-page book at Amazon here.
MORNING GLORY
by Tomiyasu Fusei
I love the rest of my life
Though it is transitory
Like a light azure morning glory.
Photo: Mailman17013, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Note: This poem is found in the beautiful book Zen Poems, Edited by Manu Bazzano with Illustrations by André Sollier. Find it at Amazon.com.
Dragonfly on a rock –
absorbed in
a daydream
by SANTOKA TANEDA
Photo: “Dragonfly on the Rocks” by Kesha Linehan, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
How beautiful –
Red peppers
After the autumn gale.
YOSA BUSON
PHOTO: Len McAlpine, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
AUTUMN
by Taigu Ryōkan (1758-1831)
My beloved friend
You and I had a sweet talk,
Long ago, one autumn night.
Renewing itself
The year has rumbled along,
That night still in memory.
Illustration: “Early Autumn” by Qian Xuan (1235-1305)
THE WATER BIRDS
by Onitsura
The water birds seem heavy
But they float.
Photo: Nathan DeGargoyle
AUTUMN POEM
by Taigu Ryōkan
Showing its underside,
showing its face
a falling maple leaf.
Photo: “Falling red maple leaves, Boone County, Missouri” From the postcard book: Sierra Club Nature in Close-Up. ©Gay Bumgarner,1988, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Contact the photographer at her website gaybumgarner.com. Find the 160-page book at Amazon here.
” … I come here every day, say hello to the butterflies, and talk about things with them. When the time comes, though, they just quietly go off and disappear. I’m sure it means they’ve died, but I can never find their bodies. They don’t leave any trace behind. It’s like they’ve been absorbed by the air. They’re dainty little creatures that hardly exist at all: they come out of nowhere, search quietly for a few, limited things, and disappear into nothingness again, perhaps to some other world.” HARUKI MURAKAMI, IQ84
Photo: Melanie Huff, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Silver Birch Press 