Matsuo Basho

The butterfly

perfuming its wings

fans the orchid

Kobayashi Issa

Standing beneath cherry blossoms

who can be strangers?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The only way to have a friend is to be one.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is not the length of life, but the depth.

how grateful I am

being on the other side

watching snow fall down

Hisajo Sugita

This day of chrysanthemums

I shake and comb my hair,

as their petals shed rain

Matsuo Basho

Come, investigate lonliness!

a solitary leaf

clings to the Kiri tree

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

Inahata Teiko

Falling snowflakes'

glitter

tinsels the sea

Matsuo Basho

High-altitude rose petals

falling

falling

falling:

the melody of a waterfall.

Matsuo Basho

Morning glories blossom,

reinforcing the old fence gate.

Takaha Shugyo

Our life here on earth:

to what shall we compare it?

It is not like a rowboat

departing at daybreak,

leaving no trace of us in its wake?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Masaoka Shiki

After the fireworks,

the spectators departed:

how vast and dark the sky!