Poetry Friday--"Wild Geese Among the Reeds"

Today, for obvious reasons, I'm going to share a poem taken from A Quiet Room: the Poetry of Zen Master Jakushitsu, translated by Arthur Braverman [895.6 JAK]:

from Wild Geese Among the Reeds

Accustomed to sleeping in pairs by water's edge

How many rows fill the northern sky?

On a sand bar
        cold winter day coming to an end

And you perched alone--what deep sorrow fills your heart?

There is no need to comment--the parallels are so very obvious. And the sorrows so deep.

If you haven't heard about the Kitlit4Japan auction taking place, check it out here. Children's/YA authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers have contributed books and services (such as manuscript critiques) to be auctioned off with proceeds going to UNICEF. (Some time in the next two weeks, a couple of signed copies of Littlebat's Halloween Story [JP MAY] will be auctioned off. I know for a fact that it's a great book to read aloud!)

The Poetry Friday Round-Up is being held at A Year of Reading.

Woodcut print by Hiroshige courtesy the Library of Congress.