Bonsai of Thoughts: One Hundred and Two

1. We walk by,
curious flowers keep watching.
And here we are
writhing in thirst...

2. At dusk when
clouds descend instead of the moon,
even then
the evening lamp burns in the temple.

3. Will spring then simply depart?
The birds' weeping, the flowers' lament...
ignoring altogether
the tears of faded eyes?

4. That scarecrow
which frightens sun and wind—
what does it matter if it fails
to frighten the birds!?

5. What unbearable bliss!
Even the most beautiful flower...falls.
Even the best person...dies.
No joy possesses immortality.

6. If you wish to see
butterfly-flower-ocean-mountain,
don't look toward my poems,
look toward them.

7. Will someone lend me a little water?
A woman pure as
the first light of dawn
has stolen my entire river!

8. She lights up the whole city;
while in the corner of her room
evening falls in broad daylight,
every day dies...the tiny firefly.

9. What a foolish scarecrow!
Holds its head high in pride,
while right there at its feet
birds come and peck at grain!

10. Rain descends.
Friendship flows through the streets...
between walkers and words,
between umbrellas and raincoats.

11. On the lonely deserted path
the only companions were
a few scarecrows,
not even birds!

12. Butterflies,
fly carefully through the wind!
Wind upon wind—
the hunter of wing-colors!

13. Ah, without asking
such a person's love!
Is death then approaching?

14. Swarms of bees come
to make up for the lack of butterflies,
pouring honey into vessels of color.

15. Such silence!
How cautiously the crickets cry out!
Against the stones
dewdrops from the last century!

16. Piercing the fog
a white sail from afar
slowly infuses youth
into the lake's body.

17. A white swan
swimming, swimming...taking
leave from its own
motionless feathers.

18. In hope of a cold evening
I've borrowed the bell
from beside an ancient temple.

19. With a chest full of pride
I try to fly a hundred lanterns, only to see
a thousand lanterns floating in the sky!

20. Dusk swallows...
all the sins of day,
the virtue of approaching night,
the curse of dead flowers.