Short Poems

In a wife I would desire
What in whores is always found
The lineaments of Gratified desire

Unseen buds, infinite, hidden well,
Under the snow and ice, under the darkness, in every square or cubic inch,
Germinal, exquisite, in delicate lace, microscopic, unborn,
Like babes in wombs, latent, folded, compact, sleeping;
Billions of billions, and trillions of trillions of them waiting,
(On earth and in the sea — the universe — the stars there in the heavens,)
Urging slowly, surely forward, forming endless,
And waiting ever more, forever more behind.

Some, childless when they left,
return now with children —
and one who had a child
comes home in sorrow alone

" Written in the year before his death " :
Though I know in time
it will come again,
I'm the one
who can't be trusted —
that's why I hate to see spring go

At the Yamagoe pass in Shiga I talked with a certain person by a rocky spring. When we parted, I wrote this:
I dip with my hands
but drops muddy the mountain spring
before I've quenched my thirst —
still thirsty for your company,
I must move on

Sixth month, cormorant fishing:
When torches cast their light,
in the depths of the night river
black as leopard-flower seeds,
the water bursts into flame

On the death of his nephew Ki no Tomonori:
For all I know, I myself
may never see tomorrow,
but while today lasts
I'll grieve for another

The rays of the autumn moon
shine so clear,
you can even see
the shapes of
the red leaves as they fall

On the impermanence of life:
Autumn chrysanthemums —
while they're at their best
I'll make them my ornament —
for all I know
I may be gone before the flowers

Written when visiting a mountain temple:
I found lodging
on the spring mountainside
and slept the night —
and in my dreams, too,
blossoms were falling