One Thousand Summers

When winds send waves crashing against the rocks, I recall how my own efforts were in vain.

Note that though we may be apart, if I am to hear that you pine for me as the Inaba mountain pines, I shall return to you.

Like a boatsman adrift at the mouth of Yura, I do not know where this love will take me.

The sight of the lonely moon in the early morning reminds me of the lonely dawns after we parted. 

What matters is deciding in your heart to accept another person completely. When you do that, it is always the first time and the last.  ― Haruki Murakami, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

“Poets give us insights into our world. Great poets give us insights into human life.”   — Kenneth Yasuda in the foreword to H. Jay Harris’ translation of The Tales of Ise

'Does pain go away and leave no trace, then?'  'You sometimes even feel sentimental for it.'  ― Yasunari Kawabata,  Thousand Cranes