Waka (Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer)

Autumn dusk--
The plaintive call of a lone robin
In the woods;
I listen to the growing silence
Of this deepening night.

A cardinal flits
From leafless branch to branch--
Autumn's sparseness;
What greater bounty is there
Than November's setting sun?

A November shoreline;
Sheltered from wind and waves,
Gnarled driftwood--
For a moment the madness
Of the world is at bay.

Buffetting snowflakes
And the white tips of plum buds--
This March wind
Chills the mating robins' songs,
Chills the dreams of gardeners.

Against the house,
A lone crocus blossom closed
In the cold wind;
Even this snowflake can't lodge
Amid the golden anthers.

An April morning;
Fluttering in the north wind,
New leaves--
Their shadows flickering
Across the crabapple blossoms.

Evening;
Hanging over the fence,
Wisteria--
Waiting for the dew
To deepen its blueness.

Streaming
In the May breeze--
A strand of spider web
Dances with a mosquito
Towards the setting sun.

Drifting off;
On the rippling water--
Sparkling sunlight
Begins this sequence of dreams
On a still spring night.

The stamens curling
In the red daylily's throat--
Its velvety end,
Deeper than the dark colors
Of the summer's setting sun.

Their edges
Already turning brown--
These brilliant cannas
Also know the heat
Of summer stillness.