Matsuo Bashō
Autumn approaches and the heart begins to dream– — Matsuo Bashō, The Sound of Water: Haiku by Bashō, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets. (Shambhala, 2006)
Category: Traditional
Liu Ch’ang
The moon, emerging, Floats where clouds are not; Wind rises, Strikes the purity of night, Stars compete In trembling flickers, The Milky Way is empty, Clear, and bright. Old trees’ sparse shadows Intersperse. Scared birds cut off their Noises lingering. This autumn I am rapt In what’s already awry, While crickets campaign Again at night.… Continue reading Liu Ch’ang
Matsuo Bashō
Autumn approaches and the heart begins to dream of four-tatami rooms — Matsuo Bashō The Sound of Water: Haiku by Bashō, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets (trans. Sam Hamill with illustrations by Kaji Aso)
Ryokan
Keep your heart clear And transparent, And you will Never be bound. A single disturbed thought Creates ten thousand distractions. — Ryokan
Matsuo Bashō
Autumn eve – please turn to me. I, too, am stranger. — Matsuo Bashō, trans. Lucien Stryk, On Love and Barley: Haiku of Bashō (University of Hawaii Press, 1985)
Ryokan
The night is fresh and cool, Staff in hand I walk through the gate. Wisteria and ivy grow together along the winding mountain path; Birds sing quietly in their nests and a monkey howls nearby. As I reach a high peak a village appears in the distance. The old pines are full of poems; I… Continue reading Ryokan
The Vale of Soul-Making 