There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
By Li-Young Lee (b. 1957 – )
To read more poems, click here.
From Blossoms
Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
Measure the walls. Count the ribs. Notch the long days.
Look up for blue sky through the spout. Make small fires
with the broken hulls of fishing boats. Practice smoke signals.
Call old friends, and listen for echoes of distant voices.
Organize your calendar. Dream of the beach. Look each way
for the dim glow of light. Work on your reports. Review
each of your life’s ten million choices. Endure moments
of self-loathing. Find the evidence of those before you.
Destroy it. Try to be very quiet, and listen for the sound
of gears and moving water. Listen for the sound of your heart.
Be thankful that you are here, swallowed with all hope,
where you can rest and wait. Be nostalgic. Think of all
the things you did and could have done. Remember
treading water in the center of the still night sea, your toes
pointing again and again down, down into the black depths.
To read more poems, click here.
The Great Morning
The Great Morning:
Winds of long ago
Blow through the pine-trees.
Uejima Onitsura
By Uejima Onitsura. Onitsura (1660-1738) was, along with Basho, one of the most acclaimed poets of the 17th century.
To read more poems, click here.
Snow
(sent to Etsujin* at the recollection of last year’s journey)
The snow we two beheld –
Hath it come down again this year?
Matsuo Basho
* Etsujin, Basho’s favorite pupil.
Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694) was the most famous Edo period poet and a haiku master.
To read more poems, click here.
In My Dark Winter
In my dark winter lying ill
At last I ask
”How fares my neighbor”?
Matsuo Basho
Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694) was the most famous Edo period poet and a haiku master.
To read more poems, click here.
Moon Viewing at an Old Temple
No pretty face is to be seen
Among the group viewing the moon.
Matsuo Basho
Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694) was the most famous Edo period poet and a haiku master.
To read more poems, click here.
The Quails
The quails are chirping in the dusk
Aware the hawks’ eyes are now dim.
Matsuo Basho
Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694) was the most famous Edo period poet and a haiku master.
To read more poems, click here.
Lightning
How noble he who realizes not,
From lightning-flashes, life is wain!
Matsuo Basho
Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694) was the most famous Edo period poet and a haiku master.
To read more poems, click here.
The Chanting of Buddhist Prayers
The chanting of the prayers fills
The field and mountain with cool air.
Mukai Kyorai
Mukai Kyorai (1651 – 1704) was a Japanese poet of the early Tokugawa period (1603–1867) and one of the first disciples of the haiku master Matsuo Bashō.
To read more poems, click here.
Acquainted With The Night
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
Robert Frost
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963), American poet and winner of four Pulitzer Prizes, is most known for The Road Not Taken (a poem often read the graduation ceremonies), Fire and Ice, Mending Wall, Nothing Gold Can Stay, and Home Burial.
To read more poems by Robert Frost, click here.
