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Izumi Shikibu

  • As I dig for wild orchids / in the autumn fields, / it is the deeply-bedded root / that I desire, / not the flower.

    • Izumi Shikibu,
    • c. 1000, in Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani, trans., The Ink Dark Moon ()
  • Watching the moon / at midnight, / solitary, mid-sky, / I knew myself completely, / no part left out.

    • Izumi Shikibu,
    • c. 1000, in Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani, trans., The Ink Dark Moon ()
  • Although I try / to hold the single thought / of Buddha's teaching in my heart, / I cannot help but hear / the many crickets' voices calling as well.

    • Izumi Shikibu,
    • c. 1000, in Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani, trans., The Ink Dark Moon ()
  • Although the wind / blows terribly here, / the moonlight also leaks / between the roof planks / of this ruined house.

    • Izumi Shikibu
  • Come quickly — as soon as / these blossoms open, / they fall. / This world exists / as a sheen of dew on flowers.

    • Izumi Shikibu

Izumi Shikibu, Japanese poet

(c. 976 - 1033)