Haikus

Kobayashi Issa, one of Japan’s three greatest haiku masters, lived an uneasy life, marked by family trouble and the death of his children. He is perhaps best known for the poignant poem written after the death of his daughter:

This world of dew
is a world of dew
and yet, and yet. . .

also his:

In this world
we stroll along the roof of hell
gawking at flowers