Jenna Van Kley’s Reviews > Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death > Status Update

“This year I want
to see the lotus
on the other side.”

“First crops:
my pillow fluffed up high,
I gulp down rice and tea.

Chiri died in the autumn, during the rice harvest…In the past the Japanese would bring the first-fruits of the harvest to the temples.

Chagayu is a gruel made from rice, green tea, and salt. Takamakura, ‘high pillow,’ refers metaphorically to peaceful sleep, free from the worries of this world.”

So simple; made me emotional

“In empty space I twist and soar
And come down with the roar of thunder
To the sea.”