Yo no naka wo
Nani ni tatoemu
Asaborake
Kogiyuku fune no
Ato no shiranami

To what shall I compare
This world?
To the white wake behind
A ship that has rowed away
At dawn!
-- The Priest Mansei (c.720)

Wasuraruru
Mi wo ba omowazu
Chikaiteshi
Hito no inochi no
Oshiku mo aru kana

It does not matter
That I am forgotten,
But I pity
His forsworn life.
-- Lady Ukon

These are from the Gosenshu, 951 AD (found in this anthology). In the first, I like the image of the ship that's departed. That one image carries in it a melancholy sense of life's passing, a reminder that the things of the earth are (like the waves) temporary, and a reminder that earthly life is just a shadow of something else of greater solidity. In the second I love that the speaker, in contrast to the usual poetic practice of bemoaning one's loss and pain, accepts it and sees clearly enough to have compassion for the restless casanova who betrayed her.

There are, of course, many haiku and waka with nature for their theme, and I have to admit I find most of them boring. Yes, an image of the moon reflecting in a pond, or an autumn leaf falling from a tree is pleasant, but it doesn't really reach any particular emotion in me. The ones that catch my attention are a brief glimpse of a person, or have some human element. I suppose I'd say the same about western poetry, and art in general. pictures (image-pictures or word-pictures) of nature are often nice and look/sound interesting, but they're just pictures. which I guess makes me wonder why I have been taking so many pictures of flowers and leaves and so few of people lately.

Inspired by a monochrome woodcut my Mother gave me, I've been working on some monochrome woodcut-style images. Maybe part of an eventual ukiyo-e style series "37 views of modern Japan" (with robots!) or something.