On a troubled current
we grow old in this world–
today’s rain-filled stream
will only increase
with tears.
~Izumi Shikibu (J Hirsfield & M Aratani, The Ink Dark Moon)
Nikon D750 f/7.1 1/100 s 300 mmm 100 ISO
a troubled current…or two
izumi shikibu
just to see you…
I’ve traveled
that dark path to the world
which comes down from this mountain
just to see you
one last time.
~Izumi Shikibu (J Hirshfield & M Aratani, The Ink Dark Moon)
Nikon D750 f/10 1/200s 66mm 100 ISO
journey piled on journey
Journey piled on journey
At a distance of a thousand years
Will you see?
From the pines of Sue,
To the living pine groves
~Izumi Skikibu
100 days…43rd day
I am a drop of dew
Hanging from a leaf
Yet, I am not unrestful
For on this branch, I seem to have existed
From before the birth of the world
~Izumi Shikibu
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
weekly photo challenge: ephemeral
Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
~Izumi Shikibu*
light prints upon the floor
Krista’s photo challenge for this week is Ephemeral
*cited:
The Ink Dark Moon
J. Hirshfield & M Aratani
i watch over
Sleeplessly
I watch over
the spring night –
but no amount of guarding
is enough to make it stay
~Izumi Shikibu*
*cited in:
The Ink Dark Moon
Trans: Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani
after spring’s rain
I am a drop of dew
Hanging from a leaf
Yet, I am not unrestful
For on this branch I
seem to have existed
~Izumi Shikibu
memory fragments
although the wind
blows terribly here
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house
~Izumi Shikibu
The Ink Dark Moon
a meditative journey 
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