the same
spring showers
I’m growing old
Comment: a short yet powerful poem in which the arrival of spring and its showers (harusame 春雨) –symbol of life and rebirth– contrasts with the inexorable aging of the poet in the last ku. Apparently, the shower is ‘the same’. In truth, as Heraclitus used to say, ‘everything flows’ (πάντα ῥεῖ, panta rhei), so ‘ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers’ (and on those who stand in the rain). Nature changes just like the author, according to the eternal cycle of life, death, and transformation, turning this haiku into a hymn to the present.
Thanks for the excellent description!
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