Blowing in the Wind

For a while the wind brings good tidings. When I open the window, the outside air that blows into the room is rich with the fragrance of fresh greenery, which increases day by day. It almost bursts with news of the birth of life. As the humidity rises, the wind becomes more and more bitter, more and more cloying. This is why it is called the balmy wind. It is distinctive even among winds. Thinking about how I get tossed here and there by the balmy wind, though, well, that is pleasant, too.
(Sen Soshitsu)

And outside was a day of blue and green with a shout of red at bright places. The pond kept retreating in small waves, and with the wind came a distant flowering and sang of gardens outside at the city's edge.

It was as if things wreathed themselves, they stood brightly - infinitely light and calm; a feeling was in every housefront, and many windows opened up and shone. (Rainer Maria Rilke)

My dreams always returned To a lonely village at the foot of a mountain; Wind sighing over the knot-grass, Skylark singing and singing, To a forest path in quiet noon.

In the blue sky, sun shining clear Volcano asleep, And I Talking of what I have seen ? islands, breakers, headlands, sun, and moonlight; Even though I know none listened, Talking, talking . . .

Here the dream stops short. I try to forget everything . . . And when I forget even that I have forgotten, The dream will freeze in midwinter’s memories And, opening the door, Recede along the path lit by the Milky Way.
(Michizo Tachihara)

Everywhere rape blossoms
Everywhere rape blossoms
Everywhere rape blossoms
A singing skylark flies high.
(Bocho Yamamura)

I was born in May. That’s not the reason, I’m sure, but I always sense the birth and energy of life in the changes of flowers and greenery that take place in April, May, and June, and it gives me a feeling of ecstasy. At this time, I always remember the words of poets that are buried in the back of my mind. Since I am now three score and a couple of years old, maybe what I am doing is recollecting my own youth.

Naturally, though, since I have passed through that period of youth and etched the memories of that time in my mind, I can only be thankful for all the emotions and all the encounters.

They say that cherry blossoms make you even more aware of the passage of time than New Year. Certainly, the appearance of nature from spring into early summer is invigorating indeed.