33 Translations of One Bashō

1

ancient pond;

the frog jumps in—

splash!

2

a frog leaps

into the old well—

sound of water

3

self absorbs

into the flux

death bell or birth?

4

pear rots

in the entropy of bees

dark night of the soul

5

dragon in search of the golden sun ball

dives into a koan of irreconcilable relations

[old well: new water] the myriad worlds

6

a thief plummets

from the fire escape:

listen

7

Grandpa mumbles something

about the truck in snow

insinuating tomorrow

8

a desire

hidden in the dream—

one feather dipped in blood

9

y = mx + b

x2 + y2 = 169

Ø

10

Quetzalcoatl

disappears into capitol steps:

history

11

twin snakes

coupling in the garden

dew on the jasmine

12

thesis

antithesis

synthesis

13

Oedipus overlooks himself

in the sphinx

unified in the oracle

14

the boy is older

than his mother

shaking loose the wars

15

suicide note:

the world is a nothing

blooming

16

Krishna reaching out through everything

gives Radha a blue bracelet

we live by the sound of its rustling

17

no frog without

this rain: no rain

without the frog

18

servant girl wearing the king’s medallion

falls into her own reflection:

poetry

19

iroko tree

offers to the circle of young wives

seed in the belly

20

no target no

arrow no bow

bull's eye!

21

man-lion at dusk

Narasingha—

the gateless gate

22

all day rain falls

until mountains return to egg

in the whiteness

23

bare arm

briefly lit against the night

then the banjo

24

ferry boat crosses

the swollen river

despite the cries of warning

25

from her left breast

mother

fed me language

26

where

was the sound

before the sound?

27

despite the wind

smoke draws a line

straight up from the candle

28

by use of transitional objects the infant

actuates into the larger community

but not without trauma

29

minnows nibble

roots in dark water

the child is thinking

30

the dancer

dissolves into energy

latent in the audience

31

in the cage

he wakes

beside his old harmonica

32

Mt. Fuji

floating

on the eye

makes a new thing

not me: not snow

33

the frog has escaped

to lay her eggs

in the rain gutter