I have always known
That at last I would
Take this road, but yesterday
I did not know that it would be today.
Ariwara no Narihira (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
A strange old man
Stops me,
Looking out of my deep mirror.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
The mists rise over
The still pools at Asuka.
Memory does not
Pass away so easily.
Yamabe no Akahito (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
Out in the marsh reeds
A bird cries out in sorrow,
As though it had recalled
Something better forgotten.
Ki no Tsurayuki (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
