haiku: fuji no kaze ya

富士の風や扇にのせて江戸土産

fuji no kaze ya

oogi ni nosete

edo miyage

the wind from mt. fuji

i brought it on my fan

a souvenir from edo

and another classic [possibly the most famous haiku ever]:

furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto

old pond...
a frog leaps in
water's sound.

- matsuo basho [master poet - acknowledged first great poet of haikai & haiku tradition + original punk monk] 1644-1694

these days it's hard to capture the same sanctity from fuji yama as such existed in basho's time & beyond until industrialisation seized nihon.

but even stolen glances from the speeding shinkansen between pylons & built up areas afford a sense of the sacred impression that it must have bestowed on the travelers to its far reaches since time incarnate.

in reverence to the haiku form, it seems important to pay humble homage to the original zen master <-- a source of tremendous inspiration. legend has it that basho inspired more disciples than any other poet whilst alive ever. he was a true living icon & posthumously his inheritance goes on.