Into the Clouds, A Bird: Matsuo Bashō, 1644-1694

The adventures and hokku poems of Matsuo Bashō' (1644-1694) are like a magical interplay between St. Francis of Assisi -- Francesco, Giovanni de Pietro de Bernardone (circa 1181-1226) -- and Patti Smith (b. 1946). 

Bashō composed hundreds of pithy, brief poems, all the while moving around, traveling light, staying  here and there in a hut with some rice and wine, among drinking friends or on some pilgrimage. 

According to the dictates of his day, his hokku, or "opening shot" haiku, all contained a kigo, a seasonal sign, word, trace or link. 

For example:

Thoughts on a journey

this autumn:
         why do I feel so old? 
                  into the clouds, a bird

[Source: #720 (Autumn of A. D. 1694). In, Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō, translated by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2004, page 154.]

And now, a tiny sample of my favorites:

to the capital,
         half the sky left --
                 clouds of snow

Source: #223 (Winter of A. D. 1687-1688). In, Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō, translated by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2004, page 62.

resting on my journey,
         I watch the year-end housecleaning
                 of the floating world

Source: #239 (Winter of A. D. 1687-1688). In, Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō, translated by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2004, page 65.

villagers sing
        verses in the rice fields:
                the capital

Source: #287 (Summer of A. D. 1688). In, Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō, translated by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2004, page 74.

these fireflies,
         like the moon
                 in all the rice paddies

Source: #297 (Summer of A. D. 1688). In, Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō, translated by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2004, page 76.

At Takadachi in Ōshū Province

summer grass:
          all that remains 
                   of warriors' dreams

Source: #386 (Summer of A. D. 1689). In, Bashō's Haiku: Selected Poems of Matsuo Bashō, translated by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2004, page 93.

Today's Rune: Defense.