Monday, February 26, 2024

Spring is for everyone

 




in my province
grass blooms too...
cherry blossoms

我国は草さへさきぬさくら花


~Kobayashi Issa
1820


Kobayashi Issa was a poet and a Buddhist Jodoshinshu priest living and writing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  This is one of Issa’s cherry blossom haiku with a hint of satire and social commentary. In it, the sakura stands for rich nobles, while the grass represents ordinary people.

photo: bruce behnke