Though this body, I know,
is a thing of no substance,
must it fade, alas,
so swiftly,
like a soundless fart?
Source: Sato, Hiroaki, and Burton Watson. From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987. Print.
kyōka demands
and thus spreads its limited
classical leanings
common language or mundane
puns gross swordplay wet altars
Affluence—define it as:
pickled greens,
rice for supper,
nice wine, one bottle,
modest but never empty
Source: Sato, Hiroaki, and Burton Watson. From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987. Print.
“There is a separation / between life and death / where [feathers] grow // and that is where I want to go / this weekend,” paraphrasing Padgett
screech
in green darkness
and
stamp
my
talons
wet
leafy flesh
the
master has built
there
will be
many bones
a small mouthful
of mouse
a
fatty
bite