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The hue of the cherry
fades too quickly from sight
all for nothing
this body of mine grows old --...
poem by Ono no Komachi
I have always known
That at last I would
Take this road, but yesterday
I did not know that it ...
poem by Ariwara no Narihira
That pretty girl--
munching and rustling
the wrapped-up rice cake....
poem by Kobayashi Issa
Coolness--
the sound of the bell
as it leaves the bell....
poem by Yosa Buson
Press my breasts,
Part the veil of mystery,
A flower blooms there,
Crimson and fragrant....
poem by Akiko Yosano
Now I understand!
When to remember me
She vowed,
She said she would forget me,
But kindly!...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
A piece of green pepper
fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?...
article by Richard Brautigan
Lightly forsaking
The spring mist as it rises,
The wild geese are setting off.
Have they learned ...
poem by Lady Ise
Slopes
of Mount Kugami—
in the mountain's shade
a hut beneath the trees—
how many years
it'...
poem by Ryokan Taigu
Moonlight slanting
through the bamboo grove;
a cuckoo crying....
poem by Matsuo Basho
The moon, alone,
Taunts me from the heavens
With memories of you;
Should you feel the same, then
...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
The dragonfly
can't quite land
on that blade of grass....
poem by Matsuo Basho
A flower of waves
Blossoms in the distance
And ripples shoreward
As though a breeze
Had quickene...
poem by Lady Ise
The lamp once out
Cool stars enter
The window frame.

English version by Soiku Shigematsu...
poem by Natsume Sōseki
Is this not that moon?
And Spring: is as the Spring of old
Is it not?
Only this body of mine
Is ...
poem by Ariwara no Narihira
Even in a person
most times indifferent
to things around him
they waken feelings
the first winds...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
How can I vanish
Before meeting someone
Like a water bubble
Ceaselessly flowing
On a stream of t...
poem by Lady Ise
In the autumn fields
mingled with the pampas grass
flowers are blooming
should my love too, sprin...
poem by Anonymous
Autumn moonlight--
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut....
poem by Matsuo Basho
Well do I know myself, so
Your coldness
I did not think to blame, yet
My bitterness has
Soak...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
Left on the beach
Full of water,
A worn out boat
Reflects the white sky
Of early autumn....
poem by Akiko Yosano
Plum flower temple:
Voices rise
From the foothills.

English version by Soiku Shigematsu...
poem by Natsume Sōseki
A man sometimes devotes his life to a desire which he is not sure will ever be fulfilled. Those who ...
quote by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
I can give myself to her
In her dreams
Whispering her own poems
In her ear as she sleeps besid...
poem by Akiko Yosano
How wonderful, that
Her heart
Should show me kindness;
And of all the numberless folk,
Grief sho...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
Watch birth and death:
The lotus has already
Opened its flower.

English version by Soiku Shigem...
poem by Natsume Sōseki
Why should I be bitter
About someone who was
A complete stranger
Until a certain moment
In a...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
O, how sad!
Why of visitors
Should there be not one?
In melancholy, where I dwell
The wind comes...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
I am sick today,
sick in my body,
eyes wide open, silent,
I lie on the bed of childbirth.

...
poem by Akiko Yosano
My house is buried in the deepest recess of the forest
Every year, ivy vines grow longer than the y...
poem by Ryokan Taigu
Sunk in melancholy, and
Gazing
Upon the moon: its hue:
Why is it so deeply
Stained with sadn...
poem by Saigyo Hoshi
A bee
staggers out
of the peony....
poem by Matsuo Basho
I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living truth than do those words which exp...
quote by Natsume Sōseki
A snowy morning--
by myself,
chewing on dried salmon....
poem by Matsuo Basho
This old village--
not a single house
without persimmon trees....
poem by Matsuo Basho
My great lord
Gave a dread command:
So I parted from my wife,
Though filled with sadness;
And wi...
poem by Otomo no Yakamochi
Though frosts come down
night after night,
what does it matter?
they melt in the morning sun.
Th...
poem by Ryokan Taigu
Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
...
poem by Ryokan Taigu
In this world
we walk on the roof of hell,
gazing at flowers....
poem by Kobayashi Issa
Not speaking of the way,
Not thinking of what comes after,
Not questioning name or fame,
Here,...
poem by Akiko Yosano
Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan.

May the families and loved ones of thos...
article by Daniel
From now on
Coldly autumn winds
Will blow:
How can I bear
To sleep the long night through?...
poem by Otomo no Yakamochi
Awake at night--
the sound of the water jar
cracking in the cold....
poem by Matsuo Basho
All the time I pray to Buddha
I keep on
killing mosquitoes....
poem by Kobayashi Issa
Evening wind:
water laps
the heron's legs....
poem by Yosa Buson
The snow is melting
and the village is flooded
with children....
poem by Kobayashi Issa
I hear they are rebuilding
Nagara Bridge in Naniwa.
What is left
For me now
To compare myself to...
poem by Lady Ise
That wren--
looking here, looking there.
You lose something?...
poem by Kobayashi Issa
Below are eleven Buson haiku
beginning with the phrase
'The short night--'


The short night--
...
poem by Yosa Buson
The moon is brighter since the barn burned....
quote by Matsuo Basho
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