Sumizome no
waga koromode no
yuta naraba
ukiyo no tami wo
owamashi mono wo.
waga koromode no
yuta naraba
ukiyo no tami wo
owamashi mono wo.
If these sleeves
of my black robe
were only wider
I’d shelter all the people
in this up-and-down world.
of my black robe
were only wider
I’d shelter all the people
in this up-and-down world.
— From Ryokan: Zen Monk Poet of Japan, trans. Burton Watson, p. 50
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