Love Sequence

Spring sunshine;
Hovering, the red-tail hawk
Still in winter plumage--
I yearn to cast off
The cold remains in this heart.

An abandoned farm;
Magnolia petals blowing
In the spring wind--
This fear of being alone
Unfurling in my heart.

Beyond the strand,
The red buds of a maple
Unfurling;
These arms yearn for more
Than the spray of gray waves.

Almost empty,
This cup of jasmine tea--
Steam still rising;
Even in old age the yearning
For passion simmers again.

In night-time warmth,
The raucous song of peepers
Awakening;
This heart follows harmonies
Down an unmapped path.

Trying to find
My love wandering
Along this path;
The scent of wisteria
Wafts on a spring breeze.

In the distance
Clouding the pink dawn--
Spring mists;
I had forgotten what color
Brings to a barren field.

Flashing his striped wings,
The mockingbird in the field
Courting;
His sweet sounds echoing
My rising desires.

A pair of geese
Rising as one from the pond
And then separating;
I realize your absence
As part of my breath missing.

In the blueness
The white caps of waves
Curling into themselves;
These endearments rise and leave
In the variable spring wind.

The only white lilac
Among a purple grove
In the sunlight;
Will he notice how pure
The color of my heart is?

"How pure and strong
The goldfinch sings"--
His reply;
"My heart lingers with spring wind
Yet it is dyed with your color."
    (allusive variation to Tsurayuki #729 in "Kokin'shu")

Through the window
The full moon and sweet cherry scent
Lingering;
I wait a moment too long
For the touch of your hand.

A sudden storm;
Piles of crabapple blossoms
Lingering but tattered--
The dream of your constancy
As blemished as the green leaves.

When trees were still barren,
The greenness of the willow
Standing out;
Now I understand the color
Of all trees looks the same.

Viburnum petals
Fall through honey locust scent
This morning;
Yearning for you still lingers
In spite of my common sense.

The stream's water
Rushing past caught driftwood--
Spring rain;
How long does it take to move
Beyond unrequited love?

My bedroom window--
The mockingbird's litany
Echoing this morning;
If only I knew how
To tell what real love is!

Night after night
Flooding rain carves a path
Through the growing reeds;
The current is so strong
That nothing can turn back.

Rain clouds
Shield the lunar eclipse
This evening;
Listening to the drops patter
On the unseen blue iris.