The palm at the end of the mind, beyond the last thought, rises in the bronze distance. A gold feathered bird sings in the palm, without human meaning, without human feeling, a foreign song. You know then that it is not the reason that makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine. The palm stands on the edge of space. The wind moves slowly in the branches. The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

* * *

This world:
A fading
Mountain echo,
Void and
Unreal.

Within
A light snow
Three Thousand Realms;
Within those realms
Light snow falls.

As the snow
Engulfs my hut
At dusk
My heart, too,
Is completely consumed.


--Ryokan
Translated by John Stevens


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