Shell

by Shinkichi Takahashi

English version by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto
Original Language Japanese

Nothing, nothing at all
     is born,
dies, the shell says again
     and again
from the depth of hollowness
     its body
swept off by tide -- so what?
     It sleeps
in sand, drying in sunlight
     bathing
in moonlight. Nothing to do
     with sea
or anything else. Over
     and over
it vanishes with the wave.

-- from Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk / Translated by Takashi Ikemoto

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Shell