lost in a sky
of strange and far places
a hint of a house
and treetops in the mist
guide my way to you

she gazes
into the same skies
as you do
may your thoughts also
come to be one of accord

if you answered
the tapping of every
water bird
even a wandering
moon could enter

if the haze had not
come out to go in between
the moon and flowers
otherwise even the birds nests
might have burst into blossom

boat upon high seas
if you are drifting without
a harbor or course
give me a call and I'll row
out to teach you about ports

not even knowing
the meaning which the color
of lavender has
but watching it carefully
this one's heart is deeply touched

Murasaki Shikibu, *A String of Flowers, Untied...

“while resembling you
looking at it with my heart
I’m discomforted
by the weight of tear-like dew
on wild carnation flowers”

“beyond measuring
the thousand fathoms depth
may the sea weeds
keep growing to be so deep
I’ll be merely a caretaker”

“you only dip
into shallow waters
in my morass
my body is totally submerged
in the ways of burning love”

“clouded
by affairs of the heart
I am lost
hello! Why doesn’t someone
ask how I am?”

Murasaki Shikibu

"I leave you to go the road we all must go.
The road I would choose, if only I could, is the
         other."

The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu