lightning flashes

This world— 

to what may I liken it? 

To autumn fields 

lit dimly in the dusk 

by lightning flashes. 

 

Yononaka o 

nani ni tatoen 

aki no ta o 

honoka ni terasu 

yoi no inazuma 

 

[Minamoto no Shitagō {911-983} 'This world', from Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen monks and haiku poets on the verge of death]