Thoughts in Bonsai: Fifty-three

1. Now when you call me, I come running—doesn't it cross your mind even once
when you say this over and over,
that there was a day when this very you wouldn't dare even think of calling me!

2. Some people, by staying far from life,
actually come closer to humanity.

3. It's not that I don't miss you.
I stay silent only because I don't want to torment myself anymore.

4. Rather than the capacity to be well, what matters more is the ability
not to think about how I am.
Then even when I'm not well, I can forget it all in the midst of busyness.

5. Storm within, sunshine without.
This is what growing up means.

6. You want light?
Brother, even kerosene costs money!

7. If you ever see me fallen silent,
look toward the agonies of my past.
If you ever see me grown arrogant,
look toward the agonies of my past.

8. Such lonely nights come in life
when I deeply wish
someone would hold me close and say,
everything will be all right, I'm here!

9. Will you be my home?
That home where returning brings peace!

10. Of all the mistakes I've made in this life,
I've suffered most from giving time to the wrong people.

11. No one can steal your memory.
No one can heal your memory.
This is what sorrow means.

12. Stay beside me.
Many have loved me well,
but no one stayed beside me.

13. Write this down: even if I forget everything one day,
your karma will never forget you.

14. One day I won't cry anymore.
That day you'll understand.

15. Have you ever kept anyone inside you except yourself?
How empty a person you are!

16. I don't want to be your umbrella,
I want to get drenched with you.

17. You were better in my light.
How you fled at the first glimpse of darkness!
Not everyone becomes a friend, after all!

18. That you're not here—this is hard to accept.
That it doesn't matter to me whether you're here or not—
performing this act is even harder.

19. Friendship with the rain,
kinship with the clouds,
love with you.

20. When it rains, I love to walk—
how firmly you hold my hand!