On Ryōkan
The following was written about Japanese Zen Master Ryōkan by a friend… When Ryōkan visits it is as if spring had come on a dark winter’s day. His character is pure and he is free of…
Category: Japan
For Eileen
The mists rise over The still pools at Asuka. Memory does not Pass away so easily. –Yamabe no Akahito, 8th century translated by Kenneth Rexroth
A Poem by Anryu Suharu
When, with breaking heart, I realize This world is only a dream, The oak tree looks radiant. –Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi, Women Poets of Japan
A Poem by Akiko Yosano
Even at nineteen I knew The violet would fade, The brook would dry up, And life would pass away. Tangled Hair: Selected Tanka from Midaregami trans. Sanford Goldstein and Seishi Shinoda