Thoughts in Bonsai: Thirty-Four

1. The one I think is my dream
thinks of me as a whim.
The one I think is my whim
thinks of me as a dream.

2. The one I myself bid farewell to countless times,
why does accepting their farewell cause such anguish today?

3. The virtue that no one witnesses—
that tips the scales heaviest!

4. Don't look at the lines on your palm, friend;
look at your arms!
Why do you submit to the fate shown by the very one
whose destiny is written alongside your lines?

5. Only by placing my hand in yours
have I understood
the world grows colder still!

6. What does it matter if one leaves?
Every ending is just another beginning!

7. The more you've drawn me close,
the more poetry has drawn me away!
Today I measure you only through the poetry I count!

8. I don't know
if you are like the moon,
or if the moon is like you!

I don't know
if you are like the trees,
or if the trees are like you!

I don't know
if you are like the river,
or if the river is like you!

I don't know
if you are like the rain,
or if the rain is like you!

I only know
that everything about you
is exactly like my heart!

9. You're teaching me how to live!?
Come now, first try living in my life!
Then you can come and play teacher!

10. That I'm not with you doesn't mean
I'm with someone else.
That you're not with me means
you're with everyone else—that's how it is!

11. Friend, the road isn't too long, your courage is too small!
Either expand your courage, or the road will expand!

12. One who can create but cannot explain—
that one is the Creator!
One who can explain but cannot create—
that one is the Seer!

13. I don't try to understand you,
I only feel you.
Had I understood, I would have lost you long ago!

14. By the time when you're not beside me—
that's the time by which I judge you!

15. I could have broken down this completely all by myself!
Before you pay the price for breaking me,
don't even think about rebuilding yourself!

16. Are you that same person
for whose suffering I once raised both hands in prayer!
With what face do I raise those same hands for myself today!

17. You watch the dew fall all night,
I watch the flowers weep all night.

18. The one who isn't mine
is still mine today!
The one I was supposed to keep as mine,
today I only watch!

19. Why are you burning so much today?
Because I don't burn you like before?

20. After driving me mad,
now you say I'm crazy!?