Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Izumi Shikibu


.
.
Watching the moon 
at midnight,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.
.
.
.
I cannot say 
which is which:
the glowing 
plum blossom is
the spring night’s moon.
.
.
.
.
It is true,
the wind blows terribly here -
but moonlight
also leaks between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
.
~ Izumi Shikibu, (974-1034)
.
She is considered by some to be the greatest woman poet of Japanese literature.
from:  Women in Praise of the Sacred, edited by Jane Hirshfield
.

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