Matsuo Bashō’s Death Haiku
Even during these hectic days there were occasional agreeable interludes. In the eleventh month of 1857, Sachinomiya, in his sixth year, composed a poem,27 the first of his 100,000 tanka.
Donald Keene • Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912
The haiku poet, Issa, represents this profound experience in one of his most famous poems: The world of dew is the world of dew. And yet, and yet … He wrote this poem after the funeral of his baby daughter.
Gregg Krech • Tunneling for Sunlight: Twenty-One Maxims of Living Wisdom from Buddhism and Japanese Psychology to Cope with Difficult Times
Saint-Exupéry died because he was bound to die. I want to honor his way of living. It shouldn’t matter if one has setbacks, or dies from drink, or dies in an airplane. We all have the right to make that choice, and we should be entitled to it. There’s no need for all of us to live in a healthy way, always being positive. Poets in particular should
... See moreHayao Miyazaki • Turning Point: 1997-2008
Parched wheat and pine pollen make a fine meal vine flowers and salted bamboo make a tasty dish when I’m exhausted I think of nothing else let others become buddhas or immortals