.
.
Watching the moon
at midnight,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.
.
.
.
I cannot say
which is which:
the glowing
plum blossom is
the spring night’s moon.
.
.
.
.
It is true,
the wind blows terribly here -
but moonlight
also leaks between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
.
~ Izumi Shikibu, (974-1034)
.
She is considered by some to be the greatest woman poet of Japanese literature.
from: Women in Praise of the Sacred, edited by Jane Hirshfield
.
Share:
