Zen Death Haiku Viii

ZEN DEATH HAIKU VIII These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku. Had I not known I was already dead I might have mourned my own passing. —Ota Dokan, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Both victor and vanquished are dewdrops: flashes of light briefly illuminating the void. —Ôuchi Yoaka, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Even a life of long prosperity is like a single cup of sake; my life of forty-nine years flashed by like a dream. Nor do I know what life is, nor death. All the years combined were but a fleeting dream. Now I step beyond both Heaven and Hell To stand alone in the moonlit dawn, Free from the mists of attachment. —Uesugi Kenshin, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch My life appeared like dew and disappears like dew. All Naniwa was a series of dreams. —Toyotomi Hideyoshi, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Felt deeply in my heart: How beautiful the snow, Clouds gathering in the west. —Issho, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Brittle cicada shell, little did I know that you were my life! —Shoshun, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Inhale, exhale. Forward, reverse. Live, die. Let arrows fly, meet midway and sever the void in aimless flight: Thus I return to the Source. —Gesshu Soko, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch My body? Pointless as the tree's last persimmon. —Seisa, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Farewell! I pass as all things do: dew drying on grass. —Banzan, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Seventy-one? How long can a dewdrop last? —Kigen, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch A tempestuous sea... Flung from the deck — this block of ice. —Choha (-1740) , loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Empty cicada shell: we return as we came, naked. —Fukaku (-1753) , loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch Keywords/Tags: Haiku, Zen, Japan, Japanese, translation, life, death, aging, time, pain, sorrow, lament, age, analogy, angst, animal, anxiety, autumn