The ghosts of the past
which follow us into the present
also belong to the present moment.
To observe them deeply,
recognize their nature
and transform them,
is to transform the past.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Mourning is not forgetting.
It is an undoing.
Every minute tie has to be untied
and something permanent and valuable
recovered and assimilated from the dust.
- Margery Allingham
Pity! The southerly trees have shed their leaves.
Nobody comes to appreciate the mountain's beauty.
Tomorrow I too will float away.
My reflection gone from cool streams.
- Cheng Man-ch'ing
On a journey, ill;
my dream goes wandering
over withered fields.
- Basho
You find a flower half-buried in leaves,
And in your eye its very fate resides.
Loving beauty, you caress the bloom;
Soon enough, you'll sweep petals from the floor.
Terrible to love the lovely so,
To count your own years, to say "I'm old,"
To see a flower half-buried in leaves
And come face to face with what you are.
- Han Shan
We must endure our thoughts all night, until
The bright obvious stands motionless in the cold.
- Wallace Stevens
