Though I think
Not to think about it any more,
I do think about it,
And wet my sleeves
Thinking about it. ~Taigu Ryōkan
Ricoh Gr III: f/2.8 1/500 s 18.3 mm ISO 100
a summer’s afternoon…
japanese poetry
life’s passages … 87
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
life’s passages … 86
How peaceful is
Every single dawn;
I gaze out, yet
Still in the depths of night
I dream…a grief, indeed.
~Princess Shokushi*
life’s passages … 44
The depth of the hearts
Of humankind cannot be known.
But in my birthplace
The plum blossoms smell the same
As in the years gone by.
~Ki no Tsurayuki*
*cited:
life’s passages … 38
Day by day, day by day, and day by day,
quietly in the company of children I live,
In my sleeves, tiny embroidered balls, two or three.
Useless, intoxicated, in this peaceful spring.~Ryokan*
*cited:
Sky Above, Great Wind
K Tanahashi
life’s passages … 4
See and realize
that this world
is not permanent.
Neither late nor early flowers
will remain.
~Ryokan*
*cited:
Sky Above, Great Wind
Trans: K Tanahashi
solitude
The traveler goes on,
His sleeves blowing back and forth
With the autumn wind,
And the evening sun sheds lonely light
Upon the bridge suspended between the cliffs.
–Miner, Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry, 115
untitled 6221
In the summer night
The evening still seems present,
But the dawn is here.
To what region of the clouds
Has the wandering moon come home?
~Kiyohara no Fukayabu*
*cited: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu 100 Poems by 100 Poets
lens-artist photo challenge: natural light
Like the morning moon,
Cold, unpitying was my love.
And since we parted,
I dislike nothing so much
As the breaking light of day. ~Mibu no Tadamine
In the peaceful light
Of the ever-shining sun
In the days of spring,
Why do the cherry’s new-blown blooms
Scatter like restless thoughts? ~Ki no Tomonori
This week Amy invites photographers to share their work using natural light.
for you who rarely visit…
for you who
rarely visit,
though you have already arrived,
may the early evening storm
not blow so hard!
~Ryokan*
*cited:
Sky Above, Great Wind
K Tanahashi
initially posted on September 1, 2015
summer night
In the summer night
The evening still seems present,
But the dawn is here.
To what region of the clouds
Has the wandering moon come home?
~ Kiyohara no Fukayabu (cited: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu)
princess nukada
Nikon D750 f/5.6 1//400s 300mm 640 ISO
When spring escapes
freed from being huddled in winter’s sleep,
the birds that had been stilled
burst into song.
The buds that had been hidden
burst into flower.
The mountains are so thickly forested
that we cannot reach the flowers
and the flowers are so tangled with vines
that we cannot pick them.
When the maple leaves turn scarlet
on the autumn hills,
it is easy to gather them
and enjoy them.
We sigh over the green leaves
but leave them as they are.
That is my only regret–
so I prefer the autumn hills.
~Princess Nukada – 7th Century (K Rexroth I Atsumi, The Burning Heart*)
*note: Princess Nukada lived in the later half of the 7th Century. She was the daughter of Prince Kagami, wife and the favorite of Emperor Temmu.
a meditative journey 
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