Wandering Spirit: faasuto iyaa wizu Basho (first year with Basho)

the story continues


After my first meeting with the master, with Basho, I was excited and proud to have a haiku written by him personally. I cherished that haiku and decided to calligraph it on white silk. As I had done that I bought a small wooden box and put the haiku on silk into it carefully.

Like a treasure
Hidden in the depth of the mountains
His haiku

© Yozakura

Several days later Basho invited me to his home. I was honored that he invited me.
“Yozakura”, he said. “I have a proposal for you”.
I nodded and my heart beat rose to unknown height.
“Your haiku are wonderful Yozakura, but they can become more sophisticated. I can teach you how. Do you want to be one of my students?”
“I would be honored master Basho. Yes, I love to become one of your students”, I answered.
Basho hugged me and gave me a kiss on my forehead.
“That that is settled. Welcome Yozakura. Please stay with me. Let us write a chained verse together. Do you want to write the first verse?”
I looked at him and stammered: “I would be honored, but I am just a beginning haiku poet. I don’t know if my haiku are worth to start a chained verse with”.
“Lesson One, dear Yozakura, every haiku is a real beauty. It has nothing to do with being a beginner or a professional. It has to do with the love of nature. Look at the pine-tree and see the pine-tree as Buddha. Your haiku are extraordinary wonderful Yozakura … don’t forget that!”
I bowed my head. “I will write the first verse master Basho”, I whispered.

dewdrops shimmer (image found on Pinterest)

At dawn
Birds sing their song
Dewdrops shimmer

© Yozakura

“Brilliant”, Basho said. “This is a nice haiku to start with. Now I have to write the second verse, but I need your help with it. In which season your haiku is written?”
I felt a little bit embarrassed as he asked me which season it was written in.
“I don’t really know. ‘Dawn’ can be used in every season as can ‘birds sing their song’, but I don’t know if ‘dewdrops’ can be used in every season. I think ‘dew’ is a kigo for spring or summer. So this haiku is a spring haiku, because all scenes noticed give me a spring feeling’, I answered. Basho smiled.
“Than it is a spring haiku Yozakura. Now to write the second verse. What do you want that this second verse tells us?”
“I would love to see, the beauty of flowers and young life”. Basho applauded.

Cherry blossoms bloom again
Shelter for young sparrows

© Basho

“That’s what I thought too master”, I laughed. “The beauty of cherry blossoms and the offspring of sparrows. Fragile beauty and the seemingly roughness of sparrows without colors as bright as the cherry blossoms”.
I became excited. I never had done a chained verse in the manner of Basho. “He is really a renga master”, I thought.
“Well … let us go on to the third verse. Read that verse again Yozakura, say it aloud, try to feel what it is painting. Become a part of the scene. Be a spectator that sees this scene”.
I, of course, did what he asked from me. How could I not do that. I was his apprentice so I just did what he asked. I said the second verse aloud … became a part of it. It felt like I was one with the scene. I was the young sparrow in the shelter of the cherry blossom.
“Now … I will make it a little bit more difficult for you my dear Yozakura. It’s your turn to write the next verse, but I love to see a moon theme in it. Do you think you can do that?”
“I think I can, but are you willing to give me some time? This way of writing chained is somewhat new to me”.
“Yes of course you can. Are you still staying at the home of your brother?”
“Yes”.
“Than go home and take your time. A chained verse doesn’t see the light in one day”.

Later that day Kichirou and I had dinner and I told him about my first lesson. “Basho asked me to write the first verse of a chained verse. That was a honor and than he asked me for help with creating the second verse. It was really awesome to work with him. He is a very nice and attractive man, but he is also very wise”.
“Sounds like you have had a good time Yozakura”, Kichirou said.
“Yes it was a real nice day. How was your day?”
“My day was good too. I met a wonderful painter. He told me about haiga. That’s a kind of painting in which haiku are used. He gave me this”.

Willow Tree (woodblock print, by Kawase Hasui, inspired on Saigyo's renown waka)

Kichirou reached for a roll of rice paper and showed it to me. It was an awesome painting inspired on a waka by Saigyo about a willow tree. The willow tree was really beautifully painted and in the pond its reflection was magnificent. The waka calligraphed in a great way. I felt tears rolling from my cheeks.
“Who has painted this … it is … it is wonderful”, I stammered.
“His name is Takayuki and he is a young man, very talented as you can see. I have asked him to make a haiga inspired on that haiku you got from Basho. He will be visiting us tomorrow. As a former Wakashu I think you will appreciate him”.
I smiled. “Hoshina was the first man I fell in love with. There is no place in my heart for a new love my dear brother”.
After dinner we sat on the verandah enjoying each other’s company. Kichirou was reading a book and I was busy to create a new verse for the chained verse Basho and I started.
“Kichirou?” I asked.
“Yes my brother?”
“This is the chained verse we started today, but I have no idea how to bring the moon into the third verse. Maybe you can help me”.
“Please … read what you have already”, Kichirou answered.
“At dawn
Birds sing their songs
Dewdrops shimmer;
That’s the first verse and this is the verse Basho created inspired on the first.
Cherry blossoms bloom again
Shelter for young sparrows;
And now I have to write the third verse, but in that verse I have to use “moon” as Basho asked me”.
“How do I do that?” Kichirou asked.
“By looking at that second verse and let your heart speak to you through the images you see”.
Kichirou nodded. “Let me hear that second verse again”.
I read it aloud a few times again and than I saw how Kichirou smiled.
“Do you have an idea my brother?”
“What do you think of this idea: fragile beauty makes the night mysterious in the moonlight”.
“Awesome Kichirou, but that last line. I don’t know. In your second line you use mysterious and than you use moonlight. I think that there is no need to use moonlight. What do you think of this line? The moon is female so I thought of this ‘she … is beautiful’. Than it makes the mystery bigger, more intense and I think that’s a nice contrast with fragile in the first line”.
I saw that Kichirou understood what I meant, but he wasn’t quite satisfied.
“Your third line is nice, but than you have used two times ‘beauty’, maybe you can change that third line into ‘she … the one I love’, because you love the moon.

I looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Well ..."
I saw that he weighed his words. "Don't be afraid to say what you think my brother".
"You had a loving relation with Hoshina".
I nodded. "Yes you are right. I loved him very much. I am still missing him. I know they call male to male love "moonlove" ... so I think that third line you proposed is very nice and keeps the mystery.

Moon (woodblock by Gesso Yoshimoto) (found on Pinterest)

We were awake early after a good night's sleep. The sun was already above the horizon and the village was already alive. We sat on the porch and ate our breakfast in profound silence. My thoughts were at Basho's lesson of yesterday.
"I am looking forward to my next lesson of master Basho", I said.
Kichirou looked at me. "He must be special".
"Yes he is, my brother. In a way I feel like him. We even have a connection, a click, with each other. It feels like I know him for a long time instead of just a few weeks. I am excited how our renga will evolve ..."

After a warm cup of tea I took off and went to Basho. He embraced me and gave me a kiss on my forehead. "Good to see you again Yozakura. I am looking forward to create our renga together. I think we will do a half kasen-renga. That means only eighteen verses instead of thirty-six. Is that okay?"
"Yes i think so too. I love to create a complete kasen-renga, but it's not easy to create that as a starting poet. So ... yes let us create a half kasen-renga".
I had a wonderful day with master Basho. The sun was already downing as we finally had created our half kasen-renga.
"You did a great job Yozakura", Basho said.
I blushed and bowed my head. "Thank you master Basho", I whispered.
He looked at me and shook his smiling head.
"You really did great Yozakura. You are looking at a very proud master". He embraced me.
"It's time. The day runs towards its end. Go home Yozakura enjoy the renga we created".
He gave me small booklet we had created from our renga. He even had painted a wonderful scene on the cover. "It's my gift to you Yozakura. Do I see you again tomorrow?" I nodded.

Dew drops shimmer (image found on Pinterest)

After dinner I took the small booklet of our renga and I read it. It made me proud and I love to share the renga Basho and I created with the world. So here it is:

Dewdrops shimmer 

At dawn
Birds sing their song
Dewdrops shimmer

Cherry blossom blooms again
Shelter for young sparrows

The pale moon hangs
Still fresh against the sky
Trailing morning glories      (© Dolores)

A new day rises on my naked body
The sheet that covered me slipped away

Birds sing their song
Dewdrops shimmer like diamonds
Just an illusion

Her feet caress the fresh grass
The moist of the wet earth

Reflection
In puddles of rain
Clouds are dancing

Cherry blossom petals sway on the wind
Their temporarily beauty gone

On this grave
Beneath the blooming wisteria
Her name

After the rain, clouds break open
The blue sky in all her beauty

Dragonkite
Climbs towards heaven
Reaches for the sun

In front of the fireplace
Two souls become one in a glass of wine

Sparkling wine
Flames dance in her hand
He is granted a smile

After the heat this summer night
Honeysuckle perfume and coolness

Warm embrace
Skin to skin we lay down
On the beach

Seagulls cry against the wind
Waves splash in the light of dawn

Reaching for the sun
Swaying on the warm air
Swallows dance together

Dewdrops vaporise as a new day rises
Morning glories bloom for just a moment

"That's a very nice renga Yozakura", Kichirou laughed. "Can I read it again?" I saw how he enjyed the renga and his smile made me proud.

- to be continued -

Wandering Spirit - Masutaa no kaigi (meeting the master)

Masutaa no kaigi (Meeting the master)

Kichirou had made us breakfast and after morning tea he introduced me to Kikaku, one of Basho's apprentices and close friend. Kikaku was a handsome man with a bright smile and an open mind. As I let him read a few of my haiku he was excited.
"These are beautiful Yozakura".
I blushed. "Thank you, but those are just the first haiku I ever created. I just wrote them from my heart, without knowing the rules of writing haiku", I said.
"Kichirou, you have never told me that you have such a gifted, such a talented brother. His haiku are amazing".
"I didn't told you about him Kikaku, because I hadn't met him before yesterday. I knew I had a brother, we have the same father, but I didn't know when I would meet him. We ran into eachother yesterday while we were visiting our mothers graves", Kichirou said.
"Praise the gods", Kikaku laughed. "It's a great day. You my friend have found your brother".

a new day
life starts again
spring has come

© Kikaku

We enjoyed the morning. Kikaku was a nice guy to have around. He told us about his life and how he met Basho, his sensei and friend.
"I love Basho", he said. "But not as in a love relation, but as my friend. I love him for his friendship and his work as a haiku master and renga master. You have to meet him Yozakura and show him your haiku".
"I would love to meet him", I said. "And let him read my haiku. He is the goal of my journey to Edo, but I am afraid that he will be disappointed as he reads my haiku".
Kikaku laughed. "Don't worry about that. He will praise you for the beauty of your haiku Yozakura. Basho once said to me: "Kikaku now you know the rules of writing haiku ... forget them immediately. Look at the pine as it is a pine. Write from the heart and not from the mind or by using my education. Be your own master. You can do it Kikaku". Yes Yozakura that's what he said. So don't worry he will surely praise your haiku".
I was astonished. This ... Basho, that famous haiku master, saw a master in every apprentice of him. In every haiku poet!
"I would love to meet him".
"Later this afternoon I will be back at Kichirou's home and than we will visit him in his "Basho-hut". He will be glad to meet you Yozakura. I even think he will be giving you some points to work with to make your haiku better and more beautiful. I see you later today". With that said Kikaku embraced us and left.

Banana tree (Basho)

"I am so excited my brother. I don't think I can eat or drink. Finally I will meet Basho", I said.

finally
I will see
banana tree in bloom

© Yozakura

After lunch Kichirou and I walked into the city. "Do you think we can visit the spot were dad's grocery once was?" I asked.
"Yes we can visit it".

A while later we stood at the spot were my father once had his grocery. It was now an empty spot were the people of Edo had created a beautiful garden in honor of all those Edo-people who died in the Great Fire. It was really a wonderful garden were all kinds of blossoming trees and bushes were planted. there was a nice pond in which Lotuses floated on the surface and Koi-carps were swimming around. The pond was surrounded by a path of shells and several garden lanterns. It was a wonderful, peaceful, place to be. I enjoyed the beauty and the sound of water falling made the silence stronger and deeper. It was ... like the pure land. I felt the presence of my father's spirit.
"This garden is wonderful", I whispered.
"I know my brother. I am visiting this garden regularly, because it feels like a place in honor of father", Kichirou said. I could hear the tears in his voice and my heart opened up to him. He had loved father and he had the same experiences as I had. The same memories. I kissed him on his forehead.
"I am glad that I have found you".

in the garden
between blossoms
family reunion

© Yozakura

Later that afternoon Kikaku brought me to the master. Kichirou was invited too, but he decided not to come with us.
"It's your wish Yozakura to meet Basho. You came back for him. So I will not spoil your moment with him".
It made me a bit sad, but I understood why Kichirou wouldn't come. He granted me this special moment, because he loved me and he knew how much I wished to meet Basho. I hugged him.
"Thank you my brother. I love you".
A little later Kikaku and I arrived at the "Basho hut". It was really just a hut, but it was surrounded by a garden in which the Basho tree he got from Rika, one of his apprentices, was obvious present. Next to that tree the garden was planted with Cherry trees, Jasmine and Snowball. At the back of the "Basho hut" the Wisteria was in full bloom.
In the garden, under a cherry tree, I saw a small group of people, male and female, sit on the grass. They all listened to a young handsome man who was telling them about the beauty of nature and how to become one with nature.
"That must be him", I thought. "He looks so small, but in a way he is bigger than all others".

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Kikaku coughed to get Basho's attention. Basho looked at him and smiled.
"Kikaku, my friend".
He got on his feet and walked towards us. He embraced Kikaku and gave him a kiss on his forehead.
"It is good to see you Kikaku". Than he saw me.
"And whom is this good looking young man?" He asked.
"This my friend is Yozakura he is a young haiku poet who wanted to meet you".
Basho bowed. "Welcome Yozakura. Welcome in my garden. My name is Basho". He took my hand.
"Come Yozakura let me introduce you to the others gathered here".
The others were already on their feet too as we walked towards them. I saw a nice group of people all with their own characteristics. All happy and smiling.
Basho introduced me to them one by one. Than we sat down together.
"Tell us something about yourself Yozakura", Basho said.
I told them the story of my life and how I had heard about Basho, than known as Tosei. "I was anxious to get to know you Basho. I had heard a lot of stories along the roads about you. You are the reason why I started to write haiku".
"Did you write haiku while on your way?" Ransetsu, one of Basho's apprentices, asked. I nodded.
"Please can you declaim a few of your haiku for us?"
I became nervous and I felt that I blushed.
"Don't be shy Yozakura", Kikaku said. "Your haiku are excellent".
Basho encouraged me too. "Please Yozakura".
I grabbed my rice-paper booklet from my knapsack. "These are just pieces I wrote that look like haiku, but they were written from the heart. As I told you my life wasn't easy and that made my heart cry".
"That, Yozakura, is the only way to write haiku. Right from the heart", Basho said. His disciples agreed.

spearflower berries
tempting the sparrows with their color -
graveyard in the mist

bare branches
a painting against the blue sky
leaves under my feet

moonlight on the river
thousand lanterns float to the horizon
honoring the dead

I looked around and waited. They applauded.
"Wonderfully crafted haiku Yozakura", Basho said. "But that last one can be so much stronger. Allow me to redo it?"
"Yes please", I answered. "I love to learn from you".
Basho took a piece of rice-paper and after a while he calligraphed his interpretation of the haiku I just had declaimed.

on the river
lights float to the horizon
the dead rejoice

© Basho

He gave this haiku to me.
"Thank you", I stammered. "I will keep this close to my heart in memory of today. The day I met you ... my sensei".


to be continued

Wandering Spirit - Edo ni modoru (Back to Edo)

Edo ni moduru (Back to Edo)

I traveled on with joy in my heart. Finally I would be meeting this Tosei, now known as Basho, after that seemingly not beautiful banana-tree with its tiny vague yellow blossoms and its useless wood. This banana-tree is beautiful through its ugliness and uselessness.
While I was on my way back home to Edo I contemplated about that banana-tree asking myself "why this famous poet had chosen this pseudonym.

banana-tree
unworthy to look at
beautiful ugliness

© Yozakura

After a few days I almost was at Edo. I sat down next to the road I was walking and looked at Edo. The town was rebuild and looked even more beautiful then it ever was. I saw the people, children playing and every were I looked I only saw happiness. As I sat there my mind went on a roll. Thoughts of my happy childhood and the sadness of losing both my parents fought for my attention. While I let go my thoughts and memories, tears covered my cheeks. "I still miss you both", I whispered.
I sat there for a few hours and when the shadows became longer and the sky started to change into the beauty of the sunset I walked into the city. Edo my home-town.

tears
thoughts of days gone
coloring sky

© Yozakura

Edo suburb lodging house (image found on Pinterest)

I found a small lodging house in the suburb of Edo named "Fuji no Hana", Wisteria flowers, and rented a room for a few days. It was a nice, not very expensive, lodging house and the owner was a beautiful former geisha with a bright smile, named Shiori, "poem". She was a great host and she wrote haiku also.

small faces
violets in thousand colors
bees humming

© Shiori

After a good meal I decided to go to sleep. I said goodnight to my host and went to my room. I was exhausted, but couldn't find sleep. I turned and turned on my sleeping mat, but the sleep wouldn't come. After a while I went downstairs to the dinner of the lodging house. All guests were already at sleep and only the host, Shiori, was still there. She sat at one of the tables with a booklet of paper that was still virgin white.
I coughed to get her attention. She looked up from the virgin paper. "Couldn't sleep", I said. "Can I sit with you?"
She nodded. "Tell me something about your wanderings", she said. "For starters ... what's your name?"
"My name is Yozakura", I answered.
She smiled. "I once knew a young guy named Yozakura", she said. "He was the son of a grocer". She looked closer to me. "You look somewhat like him".
"Would you like to tell me a little bit more about him?" I asked.
" His mother died when she was giving birth to him. I remember that his father wasn't loving him, but that was more a reaction, I think, on the fact that his wife died during labor".
Tears rolled down my cheeks. Shiori, in shock, looked at me as she saw me crying.
"What's the matter Yozakura?"
" I am that Yozakura you are telling about. My mother died in labor and my father was angry about that. As I became five years he decided to send me away to the shogun to get educated. After several years I returned to Edo and my father. He forgave me and asked my forgiveness for all he had said and done. We became closer then we ever had been. I lost him in the Fire of Meireki". My tears rolled freely now.
Shiori laid an arm around me and kissed me on my forehead. "Yozakura you are a righteous man and you needed this. You never mourned about them, maybe you fled for the thoughts and memories of them, but this ... death belongs to life, without that knowledge your life will never be complete. Come on let me help you to your room".

I awoke around noon and right then Shiori knocked on the door and entered my room.
"Did you sleep well Yozakura?"
" Yes, thank you. Thank you for all you have done".
Shiori smiled. "It's okay. Come go wash yourself and have lunch with me", she laughed. Her laugh sounded like a crystal brook and touched me. For the first time I felt something I never had experienced in my life. I knew right than ... I was in love.
After lunch Shiori and I made a chained poem together. This was the starting verse:

crystal brook
reflects the willow trees
birds sing their song

© Yozakura

After a few days at the Wisteria flowers lodging house I went into Edo on my way to meet my soon to be haiku master Basho, but before that I visited my mother's garden.

tears fall
on this lonely grave
Wisteria blossoms

© Yozakura

As I was sitting in front of her grave stone a young handsome guy walked into my mother's garden. In a way I felt a connection with him.
"What are you looking for?" I asked him.
He looked at me and smiled. "Finally I meet you Yozakura, son of Kyoshi and Fujiko, my brother".
"Who ... who are you?"
" I am your brother Yozakura. After your father send you away he and my mother became acquainted and married soon after. My mother, Sachiko, happy child, died shortly after I was born. Father send me to my grandmother. He couldn't handle the situation, because of your mother, who died during labor of you'.
I saw tears on his face and I saw similarities in his features with my father. "My brother ... I know what you are feeling right now. I felt the same. Please don't cry or let us cry together. What's your name ... my brother?"
" My name is Kichirou (lucky son)", he whispered.
" Where do you live?"
" Just around the corner of this memorial garden for both our mothers. My mother also was buried here by father".

Jasmine flowers

He took my hand. "Let me show you her grave".
Not far of my mother's grave I saw another marble stone, surrounded by Jasmine.
" This is my mother's grave". Kichirou said. "He planted Jasmine in her honor. She loved the sweet perfume of Jasmine".

sweet perfume
memories of a loved one
Jasmine blossom

© Yozakura

A little later Kichirou invited me to his home. It was a small, but cozy, home and it felt awesome. I smelled the sweet perfume of Jasmine and saw a small garden behind his home in which the Jasmine was in full bloom.

We walked into the garden and sat down on the cushions on the small wooden veranda. Kichirou presented me Jasmine tea. In silence we drank our tea. The sweet perfume of the Jasmine seems to become stronger and not a minute later it started to rain softly.

"Why have you come to Edo?" Kichirou asked me. I looked at him.
" I am hoping to become an apprentice of Basho, a famous haiku poet from Edo. Maybe you have heard of him".
" Yes I have heard of him. Recently he settled down in a small hut along the river. One of his apprentices gave him a Basho-tree and his hut is now called the "Basho hut" and he, Tosei, changed his name into Basho. I have visited him once. He is a handsome guy, not extraordinary beautiful, but handsome. He has a very loving character and his apprentices adore him. A friend of mine, Kikaku, is an apprentice of him, a very close relation they have. There is a rumor that they are not only friends, but also lovers. Basho is openly about his preference for guys, but as far as I know he and Kikaku don't have a relationship. They are just close friends".

Kikaku (image found on Pinterest)

"I would love to meet your friend Kikaku. Can you introduce me to him?"
Kichirou nodded. "I will introduce him to you tomorrow if that's okay with you?"
" Sure that's okay. Do you write haiku?"
" No I have tried it but it's to difficult for me. And you? Do you write haiku? "
" In fact I do, but they aren't really good in my opinion. Friends however say that my haiku are really beautiful and the encouraged me to go on and make them even more beautiful. That's the reason why I love to meet Basho. I hope he will be my sensei, my master, to help me to improve my haiku writing skills".
" Do you have a few examples of haiku you have written?"
" Yes, I have".
" Can I read them?"
" Yes of course". I picked up my knapsack and gave him a booklet of rice-paper on which I had calligraphed my haiku.
" Wow ... these are real beauties. For sure I know that Basho will take you as his apprentice".
I blushed. "Thank you Kichirou". I gave him a kiss on his forehead. "My brother ... I love you".
" I love you too Yozakura. I am glad to have found you my brother. Let us celebrate that. Do you drink sake?"
" Yes I do, but I do like it cold".

Sake set Wisteria blossom

Kichirou came back to the veranda with a bamboo tray on which he presented sake in a wonderful earthenware jar and two earthenware bowls. I remembered them. This sake set was decorated with Wisteria blossom and I knew that they once were in the possession of my father.
" This set I know", I whispered. " Father has made it".
Kichirou nodded. "I got them as a gift from father. He said "One day you and your brother Yozakura will meet. Please save them for that day". Well ... that day has come today. So let us drink to the health of our parents, and to the health of you and me. Finally we have found each other".

Wisteria blossoms
bloom in front of the veranda
feeling blessed

© Yozakura


to be continued

Wandering Spirit - Tochuu de Mouichido (On The Way Again)

Tochuu de Mouichido

I said my goodbyes to Yori and Yamato and promised them to come back. They had taken care of me and we were friends forever.

my promise
to return to them
like the sunrise

© Yozakura

Yori and Yamato walked with me to the outside of the village, there were the country side started. We embraced each other.
"Friends forever, we will see each other again somewhere on the path of life", said Yori. I felt his tears on my cheeks. His tears mingled with mine and felt like drops of rain on the sandy road and became one with the earth. Yamato's tears followed.
"One forever", he whispered.
Than I took the road not looking back. I waved without watching. Alone again but with a heart full of love. "We will meet again my friends", I whispered.

tears
will evaporate in time
like the dew

© Yozakura

I was on my way, clothed like a monk walking barefooted my staff in hand, to Kobe, to become a monk of the Taisan Ji Temple as was my former goal before I met Yori and Yamato in their lodging house.

My journey brought me and my once to become haikai master Tosei closer to each other. At the end of the day I found an old shed were I could spent the night. In the back of the shed I found a well and the bucket to pull up the water was still there. I unclothed and washed my body. The cold water felt great on my naked body. I felt free and right at that moment I saw a shooting star. I whispered a wish. A smile on my face.

cold water cleanses
my mind becomes free again
a shooting star

© Yozakura

After a hot cup of soup and a black piece of bread I sat down on my sleeping mat. Through the torn apart paper window I saw the moon. I heard the voices of nature, the wind , the rustling of the leaves and ... there it was the fragile and beautiful song of a Nightingale. It comforted me, but it made me also a bit melancholic.
After a while I decided to go to sleep. I dreamed about my mom and dad. They hugged me. "You will become a great poet my son", my mom said and my dad nodded. "Follow your dream Yozakura", he said. Than, after my parents vanished in a wonderfull light, I saw Hoshina. He smiled at me and kissed me. In an eye-blink we laid on a bed of roses and made love. I felt tears as he disappeared. "I will always love you Yozakura. Follow your dream become like Tosei ... now called Basho". Than I saw a small hut surrounded by Basho trees, banana trees and a young, gorgeous, man. He smiled at me: "You will find me Yozakura, but you have to return to Edo". With a shock I woke up. "What .. what ..."
As I recovered from the shock I saw that the sun was already high up in the sky. "How long did I sleep?" I thought.
I washed myself and picked up my belongings and took the road. The dream I had played again and again in my head. I cherised this dream and will never forget it. "I have to back to Edo", I whispered.

follow that dream
butterflies dance in the sun
without anxiety

© Yozakura

to be continued