Showing posts with label Izumi Shikibu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Izumi Shikibu. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

broken






In my loneliness
I break and burn
twigs for the snapping fire -
hoping the smoke at least won't leave.




~ Izumi Shikibu
from The Ink Dark Moon
translation by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Aratani



Monday, May 25, 2020

between the roof planks









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






Wednesday, April 29, 2020

if only





Last year's
fragile, vanished snow
is falling now again -
if only seeing you
could be like this.





~ Izumi Shikibu







Friday, May 17, 2019

now?






If the one I've waited for
came now, what should I do?
This morning's garden filled with snow
is far too lovely
for footsteps to mar.





~ Izumi Shikibu
from The Ink Dark Moon


Saturday, July 13, 2013

which





Which shouldn’t exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?

Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you are alive?

Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?

Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things—
the swift rapids,
a flowing river,
or this human world?




~ Izumi Shikibu
 translation by Jane Hirshfield
from  The Ink Dark Moon



Saturday, March 24, 2012

the one close to me now





The one close to me now,
even my own body -
these too
will soon become clouds,
floating in different directions.





~ Izumi Shikibu
from The Ink Dark Moon
translation by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Aratani


Onono Komachi and Izumi Shikibu were both Japanese poets of the Heian Period. 
 The arts of the Heian Period are marked with a definite feminine sensibility. 
Because the Chinese characters (which were used in writing Japanese) 
were seen as inappropriate to women, 
they developed a simplified and elegant style of writing/calligraphy 
that became known as Hiragana or "onna de"... "feminine hand". 


~ comments from the literature network




Wednesday, February 15, 2012

floating








The one close to me now,
even my own body -
these too
will soon become clouds,
floating in different directions.




~ Izumi Shikibu
from The Ink Dark Moon
translations by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Aratani




Sunday, February 12, 2012

scattering







A string of jewels
from a broken necklace,
scattering -
more difficult to keep hold of
even than these in one's life.




~ Izumi Shikibu
from The Ink Dark Moon



Thursday, February 9, 2012

should I






Should I leave this burning house
of ceaseless thought
and taste the pure rain's
single truth
falling upon my skin?





~ Izumi Shikibu
from The Ink Dark Moon
translations by Jane Hirshfield and Mariko Aratani





Tuesday, February 7, 2012

not the flower






As I dig for wild orchids
in the autumn fields,
it is the deeply-bedded root
that I desire,
not the flower.




~ Izumi Shikibu
from The Ink Dark Moon







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
.