None calls upon me, or remembers me in my mountain village.
On the reeds by the thin hedge, the Autumn winds are sighing.
~The Sarashina Diary, A.D. 1009-1059 (Diaries of Old Japan)
nature
life’s passages … 32
As if nothing had happened
– the crow there
the willow here
~Issa
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
life’s passages … 24
At night my sleep
embraces the summer shadows
of my life. ~Oto*
*cited: Y Hoffmann, Japanese Death Poems
life’s passages … 23
Looking backward ... I cannot see the ancients of days.
Looking forward ... I cannot see ages yet to come.
Only heaven and earth have remained,
And will remain forever ...
I am alone, I grieve, I drop tears into the dust ~Chen Tzu-ang
(cited: Trans: Anonymous, The Jade Flute Chinese Poems in Prose. The Project Gutenberg
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]
life’s passages … 20
Across concealed blue skies – drifting signs
Imaginary birds and dragons – aimless shifting stories
Gathering and dispersing – water droplets and star dust
In flight – clouds empty of clouds
Nikon D750 f/1.8 1/800 35mm 200 ISO
life’s passages … 16
Today, today too,
somehow getting by these days, still
living in a haze.
~Issa*
*cited:
The Springtime of My Life
S Hamill
life’s passages … 15
White mulberry cloth Sleeves parted from one another: How difficult I find it, yet, Such is the tumult of my thoughts, I forgave his leaving. ~ Anonymous (cited: Waka Poetry
life’s passages … 14
In a light spring rain
a discarded letter blows
through a bamboo grove ~Issa*
*cited:
The Spring of my Life
Trans: S Hamill
life’s passages … 12
blossoming mountain–
the little food shop
lost in mist ~issa*
*cited: haikuguy.com
a meditative journey 
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