all you need to know

Found an old poetry book I used to really love, 'The Breath in the Flute' by John White. Some of the poems are in Waka form (31 syllables) but most are Japanese Haiku (17 syllables) though they don't always follow the strict five, seven, five syllable pattern, nor do they always have a seasonal reference. A couple of my favourite:

I have lived
in so many ways
a despicable life,
and when I have done,
or tried to do,
what seemed right,
there was no merit,
nothing to praise.
I did it because,
by my nature it pleased me.
*
But life
is unjust
and I
am a happy man.



What is
this strange
thing
in which
I live,

this me
which is
unknown
to me?



Words,
words,
wasted words;

the wind blows,

winter is here,

and the silent
snow.



You of pure
faith,
I,
who am certain
of nothing,

travel
the one
road.



Consider
one leaf

falling.

It will tell you all
that you need
to know.