I yearn for a tranquil moment
To be out upon the sea of harmony,
In that enchanted boat.
Oh, boatman, do you know my heart?
~The Sarashina Diary (Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
A small section of the Pacific Ocean along the Oregon coastline (2010) and a poem from The Sarashina Diary submitted in response to Travel with Intent’s six word challenge.
Rain, hail, snow, and ice;
All are different,
But when they fall
They become the same water
As the valley stream
~Ikkyu Sojun
Image and poem submitted in response to Leya’s photo challenge: magical
it stirs the soul
of even
the most
indifferent person —
first autumn winds.
~Saigyō
With blooms of pampas grass
for markers
I push my way along,
no trace of the trail
I vaguely remembered.
~Saigyō (cited: B Watson, Poems of a Mountain Home)
Come again,
if you don’t mind
pushing your way through
dewy eulalia blossoms
to reach this twig-bound hut.
~Ryokan (cited: K Tanahashi, Sky Above Great Wind)
Out of the dark,
Into a dark path
I must now enter:
Shine on me from afar
Moon of the mountain fringe.
~Izumi Shikibu (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
separation
among butterflies too…
white gang, yellow gang
~Issa (cited: www.haikuguy.com)
becoming a walking stick
little bamboo
at the peak of youth
~Issa (www.hakiuguy.com)
the rivers have
an ancient darkness…
cuckoo
~Issa (www.haikuguy.com)
The temple bell roused me from dreams
And waiting for the starlit dawn
The night, alas! was long as are
One hundred autumn nights.
~The Sarashina Diary (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
Even this wandering wind among the pines of the mountain-
I’ve heard that it departs with murmuring sound.
The Sarashina Diary (Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
The night opens and I cannot sleep,
Yet, I am dreaming dreams,
And, loving them, the moon I do not see.
~Izumi Shikibu, 976-1030 (Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
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