11.09.2015

Old Shakuhachi Woman By the Fox




Before embarking on yet another journey, less than a year after returning from his last, Matsuo Basho sold his house.  In The Narrow Road to the Deep North he wrote, "Upon the threshold of my old home, however, I wrote a linked verse of eight pieces and hung it on the wooden pillar." In 17th century Japan it seems that everyone went about writing and reciting haiku.



was it everyone 
or just a self-selecting few
like folk singers, rappers, or monks

these poets animating 
the mundane with bright 
little blossoms of words




along the northbound river
flocks of leaves collect
whispering of winter

old shakuhachi woman 
sits among the grasses and the crickets, 
soaking in the last autumn sun

back home, men hoist motors
onto their backs and blow leaves
into piles on the streets






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