Ox driver in a sudden shower
Ox driver in a sudden shower,
sentenced to his
sentenced to his
Sha-ch'eng, " Sand City "
Overlooking the water, a desolate city
where wind-swept sand gets in your eyes.
Half the people here are refugees,
behind the closed gates of their thatched huts.
where wind-swept sand gets in your eyes.
Half the people here are refugees,
behind the closed gates of their thatched huts.
Beyond Winter
Over the winter glaciers
I see the summer glow,
And through the wild-piled snowdrift
The warm rosebuds below.
I see the summer glow,
And through the wild-piled snowdrift
The warm rosebuds below.
At Shoraku-ji in Omi, First Poem of the Year
Over the lake, the wind and snow of a New Year's sky;
in my short straw cape and battered hat I've come through another year.
A country monk, ignorant of what goes on in the world,
beside the stove, roasting potatoes, I stretch my legs and doze.
in my short straw cape and battered hat I've come through another year.
A country monk, ignorant of what goes on in the world,
beside the stove, roasting potatoes, I stretch my legs and doze.
Road Runner
Out of the western chaparral
Where the raw, new highways run,
He flashes swift as a rainbow flame
And races the morning sun.
He perks and preens with lifted crest,
He dances, heel and toe.
He will jig and flirt in the roadway dirt —
Then — off like a shot he'll go.
Where the raw, new highways run,
He flashes swift as a rainbow flame
And races the morning sun.
He perks and preens with lifted crest,
He dances, heel and toe.
He will jig and flirt in the roadway dirt —
Then — off like a shot he'll go.
Dawn
Out of the scabbard of the night,
By God's hand drawn,
Flashes his shining sword of light,
And lo, — the dawn!
By God's hand drawn,
Flashes his shining sword of light,
And lo, — the dawn!
The Yule Log
Out of the mighty Yule log came
The crooning of the lithe wood-flame, —
A single bar of music fraught
With cheerful yet half pensive thought, —
A thought elusive: out of reach,
Yet trembling on the verge of speech.
The crooning of the lithe wood-flame, —
A single bar of music fraught
With cheerful yet half pensive thought, —
A thought elusive: out of reach,
Yet trembling on the verge of speech.
Tears of the Dying
Our youth was happy: why repine
That, like the Year's, Life's days decline?
'Tis well to mingle with the mould
When we ourselves alike are cold,
And when the only tears we shed
Are of the dying on the dead.
That, like the Year's, Life's days decline?
'Tis well to mingle with the mould
When we ourselves alike are cold,
And when the only tears we shed
Are of the dying on the dead.
Of Common Devotion
Our God and soldiers we alike adore,
Ev'n at the brink of danger; not before:
After deliverance, both alike requited,
Our God's forgotten, and our soldiers slighted.
Ev'n at the brink of danger; not before:
After deliverance, both alike requited,
Our God's forgotten, and our soldiers slighted.
Our Father in Heaven
1. Our Father in heaven, We hallow thy name! May thy kingdom
2. Forgive our transgressions, And teach us to know That humble com-
holy On earth be the same! Oh, give to us daily Our
passion Which pardons each foe. Keep us from temptation, From
portion of bread; It is from thy bounty That all must be fed.
weakness and sin, And thine be the glory Forever, Amen.
2. Forgive our transgressions, And teach us to know That humble com-
holy On earth be the same! Oh, give to us daily Our
passion Which pardons each foe. Keep us from temptation, From
portion of bread; It is from thy bounty That all must be fed.
weakness and sin, And thine be the glory Forever, Amen.