Ryokan : Poetry

In my youth I put aside my studies

And I aspired to be a saint.

Living austerely as a mendicant monk,

I wandered here and there for many springs.

Finally I returned home to settle under a craggy peak.

I live peacefully in a grass hut,

Listening to the birds for music.

Clouds are my best neighbors.

Below a pure spring where I refresh body and mind;

Above, towering pines and oaks that provide shade and brushwood.

Free, so free, day after day --

I never want to leave!


*


Yes, Im truly a dunce

Living among trees and plants.

Please dont question me about illusion and enlightenment --

This old fellow just likes to smile to himself.

I wade across streams with bony legs,

And carry a bag about in fine spring weather.

Thats my life,

And the world owes me nothing.



*
Like the little stream

Making its way

Through the mossy crevices

I, too, quietly

Turn clear and transparent.



--From Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan, translated by John Stevens. Published by Shambala in Boston, 1996.