8.10.2018

early spring rain drizzles on and on

What is this life of mine?
Rambling on, I entrust myself to fate.
Sometimes laughter, sometimes tears,
Neither a layman nor a monk.
An early spring rain drizzles on and on.
But the plum blossoms have yet to brighten things up.
All morning I sit by the hearth,
No one to talk to.
I search for my copybook
And then brush a few poems.

[Ryokan {Ryōkan Taigu} {1758-1831}, 'What is this life of mine?', from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryōkan {trans. by John Stevens}]

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