poetry

Ono no Komachi

ononokomachi

Tokiwa Mountain’s

pine trees are always green–

I wonder,

do they recognize autumn

in the sounds the blowing wind?

~Ono no Komachi (J Hirshfield & M Aratani, The Ink Dark Moon)

gazing

iPad f/1.8 1/3200s 20 ISO

Another with same thoughts
May be gazing at the pale morning moon
Of the Long-night month–
No sight is more sorrowful.

~Izumi Shikibu, Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

i am like dew…

contemplative-photography-11b

I am like dew on the grass–
And pitiable wherever I may be–
But especially am I oppressed with sadness
In a field with a thin growth of reeds.

~The Sarashina Diary, 1009-1059 (Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

like the moon

iPad f/1.8 1/3700s 20 ISO

She is like the Moon, who, opening the gate of Heaven,
goes up over the clouds.
We, being in the same heavenly Palace, pass the night
in remembering the footfalls of the past.

~The Sarashina Diary, 1009-1059 (Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

clouds

Those clouds form grandly

high in the sky, but owe it

all to passing winds ~Issa

libby creek

https://vimeo.com/287841033

I can see the stones

On the bottom fluctuate

through clear water ~Masaoka Shiki

lens-artists photo challenge: small is beautiful

Fallen to the ground

like those words of old –

glowing leaves ~Inko

Sony RX100 III f/4 1/50s 17.9m 400 ISO

Amy (The World is a Book) invites us to share our interpretation of “small is beautiful.” Inko’s words tells me how the small messengers of autumn’s soon arrival are beautiful gifts celebrated today as well as long, long ago.

weekly photo challenge: strength

It is by its breath
That autumn’s leaves of trees and grass
Are wasted and driven.
So they call this mountain wind
The wild one, the destroyer.

~Fun’ya no Yasuhide