Even into the mind always clouded with grief,
There is cast the reflection of the bright moon.
~Lady Sarashina ( Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
life’s passages … 91
japanese women poets
rain
The cherry petals gone,
There is no special color to my thoughts,
Yet as I gaze,
From the vacant sky there falls
The quiet sadness of spring rain.
–Princess Shikishi (Miner, Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry)
shadows
What is it
about this twilight hour?
Even the sound
of a barely perceptible breeze
pierces the heart.
~Izumi Shikibu (J Hirshfield & M Aralani, The Ink Dark Moon)
enduring trace
Like the comfortless plover of the beach
In the sand printing characters soon to be washed away.
Unable to leave a more enduring trace in this fleeting world.
~The Sarashina Diary, AD 1009-1059 (Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
The enduring qualities of art…speaking through time’s boundaries…resonating with the soul’s deep and private moments.
not yet
Tree
Within a tree
another tree that is not yet,
and now the upper branches shift in the wind.
Within the blue sky
another blue sky that is not yet,
and now the horizon is rent by a bird in flight.
Within a body
another body that is not yet,
and now the shrine gathers blood.
Within a road
another road that is not yet,
and now that space is shaken by my destination.
–Kora Rumiko
scattered
Unable to sleep,
I gaze at the flowers of the bush clover,
as the dew forms on them from the long night,
till suddenly before dawn
they are scattered by the wind.
~Ise Tayu (K Rexroth & I Atsumi, The Burning Heart)
lost in thought
The colors of the flowers fade
as the long rains fall,
as lost in thought,
I grow older
~Ono No Komachi (K Rexroth & I Atsumi, The Burning Heart)
idle thoughts
Color of the flower
Has already faded away,
While in idle thoughts
My life passes vainly by,
As I watch the long rains fall.
~Ono no Komachi
wpc: reflecting
Even into the mind always clouded with grief,
There is cast the reflection of the bright moon.
~Lady Sarashina ( Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
wpc: danger!
air-raid sirens-
the last to turn off the lights
is a temple with blossoms
~ Sugita Hisajo (M Ueda, Far Beyond the Field)
A photo that says…Danger!
52 weeks photo challenge: week 32 – shallow depth of field
butterflies, white
and yellow, on this day
of indecision ~ Inahata Teiko (M Ueda, Far Beyond the Field)
image submitted in response to a challenge offered by The Girl Who Dreams Awake
thankful tears
May that lady live one thousand years who guards the flowers!
My sleeves are wet with thankful tears
As though I had been working
In a garden of dewy chrysanthemums.
~Murasaki Shikibu (Trans: A Omori & K Doi, Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
a meditative journey 
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