Bonsai of Thoughts (Translated)

Bonsai of Thought: One Hundred and Fifty-Eight

1. The old man suddenly looks at the young woman and thinks,
Has my spring truly come to an end!

2. The aging courtesan
gives advice
to young girls...
that they should not lose their virginity untimely.

3. Why does even the butterfly go sit before the mirror?
To be enchanted by its own colors?

4. Right before the exam
the boy keeps
opening the folds of his book
burying his nose in it, breathing it in.

5. Those who object to
unequal love, same love...
are they that Creator
who holds the key to the heart?

6. Which way exactly
does the grasshopper want to go?
What does it really want?

7. Ever since I fell in love with you
vultures circle above my head.

8. Light enters even
a thatched hut,
if there's a way for it to come.

9. Even in a garden of roses
sometimes
the bee loses its way!

10. Don't hold me
with such trembling hands;
I'm not asking for freedom.

11. In me, absorption in you,
in you, nakedness toward me.

12. Fleeing from everyone,
the little bird
takes shelter
in the child's hands.

13. Behind water's veil
among thousands of stones
waiting and waiting for the hunter
the fish grow old.

14. Before the sun rises
both ascetic and thief
get down to work.

15. Then is it true
that on the waterfall hidden from sight
no butterflies
dance upon its surface?

16. Beyond your field of vision too
thousands of birds fly...
accept this truth.

17. The flower that blooms
unseen by us, and falls too—
is it not beautiful?

18. The blind young man
every morning
climbs to the rooftop
to watch the sunrise.

19. The drowsy worker,
the sleeping youth...
the setting sun.

20. Neglected
in the sun's light
the moon's splendor...
in the poet's notebook.
Share this article

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *