Some Zen Haiku by Santoka Taneda from “Mountain Tasting”
Some works of zen haiku by Santoka Taneda from the collection Mountain Tasting translated from the Japanese and introduced by John Stevens:
If there are mountains, I look at the mountains.:
On rainy days, I listen to the rain.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter.
Tomorrow too will be good.
Tonight too is good.
(And yes, I did some “mountain tasting” of my own this past weekend. We had a lovely time camping in the mountains of the southern Sierra over the weekend with Baby Beluga, our new 90 Westy with the 16″ GOWESTY rims and wheels! More details and photos to follow!)
During the Japanese-Chinese war, no protests were allowed, and poets were expected to support the war effort. In response, Taneda wrote a series of powerful poems. Here are three of them:
The moon’s brightness–
Does it know
Where the bombing will be?
Winter rain clouds–
Thinking: Going to China
To be torn to pieces.
We move silently
in the cold rain
Carrying the white boxes in front.
Santoka Taneda (1882-1940)
Discover more from art predator
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
art predator 