before there was being

the sea is me before there was being.
being the sea is like sighting first land
without seeing. i sit on that land
understanding the sea is but nothing.
now a wave is rising and the sea is me, being.





~Kokoro Sonzai 2010 (trans. Son Rivers)

nothing but moon

nothing but the moon tonight—
and cotton-like clouds in burnished shreds...
above a ragged wall of black pine trees
lining the narrow road sporadically lit—
where I and this form of a shadow split.





~Kokoro Sonzai 2010 (trans. Son Rivers)

the smallest events

the river magnifies the smallest event.
one duck chases another in flight.
an osprey flies toward the opposite shore.
a fish rolls over and touches the sky.
i feel the wind as if i weren’t even here.





~Kokoro Sonzai 2010 (trans. Son Rivers)