Forgotten Ground Regained

Kukai (空海) (774-835)

Colors

Joshua C. Frank, translator
Colors, fragrant like the flowers,Fade to ash in final hours,Extinguished, gone, returning never.No earthborn life can last forever.Depart today from your dependence,Across the summit of transcendence:Just quell your lusts and quit your schemesAnd drunkenness and lazy dreams.
This poem was first published in The Society of Classical Poets on July 18, 2024.
Original Japanese: いろはいろはにほへとちりぬるをわかよたれそつねならむうゐのおくやまけふこえてあさきゆめみしゑひもせす
Iroha
Iroha nihohetoChirinuru woWakayo taresoTsune naramuUwino okuyamaKefu koeteAsaki yume mishiWehimo sesu
Copyright © Joshua Frank, 2024
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