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The old pond;
A frog jumps in --
The sound of the water


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Old pond!
frog jumps in
water of sound


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The old pond has no walls;
A frog jumps in;
Do you say there is an echo?


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The old pond!
Basho jumps in,
The sound of the water!


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Cold pond!
Basho jumps out
A gasp of air


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Under the cloudy cliff, near the temple door,
Between dusky spring plants on the pond,
A frog jumps in the water, plop!
Startled, the poet drops his brush.


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A little frog
Riding on a banana leaf,
Trembling.


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'The instant he boarded the plane
Toad was in London' -- wrong

Toad's unaware of distance,
between his belly and man's, between himself, the crushing wheel.

"Shrinking utterly, he's nowhere' -- right.

London, Tokyo flattened by webbed feet
all at once. In the marsh -- no distance, sound --
a scaly back is overgrown with moonflowers.


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Ripple in still water,
Where there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.




see reading list for complete citations


a haiku from a zen wave pg 25
b baso's frog: a zen wave pg 25
   furu ike ya kasazu tobikomu mizu no oto
c verse from a zen wave pg 29
d parody from a zen wave pg 27
e lillian's poem unpublished
f sengai's poem from the penguin book of zen poetry pg79
g kikaku's haiku from zen for beginners pg 134
h by shinkichi takahashi from the penguin book of zen poetry pg139
i excerpt from lyric ripple american beauty