A Weeping Willow Tree, Fare Thee Well

From the willow tree

On the road over the moor

Day starts to darken.

~ Buson [Englished by Phillip Whidden to regularize its lineage]

As day begins to darken from the grace

Of one green willow tree, the poet’s pause

Presents an unexpected seer’s space.

The truth appears despite religions’ gauze

That death and darkness start their ruthless march

From points of loveliness.  No matter where

You look, these wisdom insights overarch

Mere beauty, giving prophecy’s despair.

Not only ugliness in forms like corpse

And skeleton with rot of flesh attached

Are needed.  Elegance of breezes warps

The mind, its promises too gently snatched.

  As day begins to darken from a tree,

    This means a message from eternity.

[This sonnet should be paired with the sonnet “Plum Blossoms.”]

©  Phillip Whidden