only a memory
our neighbor’s tasty rice cakes
at our gate as before ~Issa*
*cited: Trans: Sam Hamill, Spring of my Life
life’s passages … 33
poetry
life’s passages … 32
As if nothing had happened
– the crow there
the willow here
~Issa
life’s passages … 31
First snow! I see it young every winter,
Yet my face grows old
As Winter comes. ~ The Diary of Izumi Shikibu*
*cited: Trans: Annie Shepley Omori & Kochi Doi Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan
life’s passages … 30
mountain moon–
father pulls the bell rope
his child prays*
~ Issa
*cited: http: haikuguy.com
life’s passages … 29
Sweet and sad
like love overwhelmed
with long sighs,
out of the depths of the willow
little by little
the moon appears ~Yosano Akiko
moon and venus conjunction
life’s passages … 28
monochrome Monday
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. ~unknown
life passages … 27
Silently
time passes.
The only life I have
submits to its power. ~Hatsui Shizue*
*cited: Trans: K Rexroth and I Atsumi, The Burning Heart
life’s passages …25
Blow if you will,
fall winds–the flowers
have all faded. ~Gansan*
*cited: Yoel Hoffman, Japanese Death Pomes
life’s passages … 24
At night my sleep
embraces the summer shadows
of my life. ~Oto*
*cited: Y Hoffmann, Japanese Death Poems
lens-artists … day & night
as night transitions to day…
softly, softly
a lucky day dawns…
one leaf falls ~Issa (haikuguy.com)
monochrome monday
Fire Fly
Rainstorms could do little
To dim your light,
And the winds
But make your lantern
All the brighter glow.
If you should wing your flight
Up near the moon,
I am sure you would twinkle
As a star.~Li Po [701–762]
a meditative journey 
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