Snow upon snow

It is said to have been written in the first year of the Jokyo Era (貞享), 1684. A compilation of poems including Basho’s had been published called Shriveled Chestnuts. And Basho was on the road on the Five Highways on the first of his four major wanderings.

Snow upon snow
Tonight, the last month is December
Is there a full moon or not?

雪と雪 . 今宵師走の . 名月か
Yuki to yuki . Koyoi shiwasu no . Meigetsu ya
— Matsuo Basho

Version Two, when there is a glimmer of hope.

Snow upon snow
Tonight, the last month
Is there a sliver of a moon or not?

The Moon 月

It has been said that this haiku was written to settle a disagreement between two individuals (snow upon snow), each part frozen and unwilling to compromise. The moon was supposed to mediate the differences, but the cloudy weather and the snow got in the way. Tsuki is any moon. Meigtsu, refers to a full moon. A sliver of a moon (mikazuki) seems appropriate if we are trying to patch up differences.

雪と雪 . 今宵師走の . 名月か
Yuki to yuki . Koyoi shiwasu no . Meigetsu ya
image, Wikipedia

Sunset Cove

Sunset Cove

Grand Cayman

December 2025

Sunset Cove on Seven Mile Beach, just north of George Town in the Grand Caymans, is beyond description. Sunrises and sunsets glow across gentle waves and warm breezes; white clouds wander slow beneath blue skies; tall palms lean over sandy beaches. Sea shells on the shore for children to gather.

Just another day in paradise.

Matsushima ya

Aa — Matsushima ya

Matsushima ya

松島や

ああ松島や

松島や

Matsushima!

Ah, Matsushima!

Matsushima!

Some modern blogs still present this as Bashō’s, but it isn’t.

The gentle waves—ah!

Endless rolling blue waves—ah,

Grand Cayman—ah!

Partially puzzled

Matsuo Basho statue

From the fractured haiku collection.
On the anniversary of Matsuo Bashō’s death,
November 28, 2025

partially puzzled,
and warily wondering
what Bashō would think…

The last line could be changed to say, “Would Bashō approve…” But sadly, he’s not here to say.

RIP: Matsuo Bashō, master of the haiku, who died surrounded by friends, November 28, 1694 (age 50 years), Osaka, Japan

After a meal

Let us join Matsuo Basho in Edo. The year is 1683. Perhaps we are at Basho’s humble thatched cottage. More likely we are at the home of a friend as Basho’s haiku suggest he was not much of a cook. Perhaps it is late in the year, a holiday, a sumptuous feast, then desert.

After a meal
watch TV, then nap
— Thanksgiving

A meal is not complete until desert is served. A sweet rice cake called kusa mochi qwrapped in mugwort leaves.

Pale green, hey —
an ear protruding from
the kusa mochi cake.

青ざしや草餅の穂に出でつらん
aozashi ya kusa mochi no ho ni ide tsuran
— Matsuo Basho, 1683, age 40

青ざし (aozashi), pale green, the color of young plants or new leaves.

や (ya), used to convey emphasis.

草餅 (kusa mochi), a sweet Japanese rice cake made with mugwort (yomogi) leaves, a tall green herb. The mugwort is a digestive aide. Basho suffered stomach problems for much of his life.

に (ni), meaning “on”; 穂 (ho), literally “ear” as in the protruding spikes of the mugwort stalk.

出でつらん (ide tsuran), something that has “emerged” or “come forth.”

青ざしや草餅の穂に出でつらん
aozashi ya kusa mochi no ho ni ide tsuran

Frogs in November

frog in a lily pond

In summer, Matsuo Basho’s frog is plopping in a pond, making all sorts of noise. Does the water speak? Let’s imagine Matsuo Basho’s frog in November when the pond is quiet.

Falling leaves drift down—
the old pond’s quiet and calm
the frog is sleeping
— Bashō no yōna, November 2025

Frogs overwinter underwater, buried in mud or resting on the pond bottom, if needed freezing their bodies solid.

November

freezing monkeys

Oz, Kansas
Late November, 2025

The opening verse of the anthology Sarumino 猿蓑, Monkey’s Raincoat (1691).

初しぐれ猿も小蓑をほしげ也
hatsu shigure saru mo komino o hoshige nari

the first winter rain —
the monkeys shiver and shake,
wanting straw raincoats.
— Matsuo Basho, Sarumino 猿蓑, Winter (November?) 1691

Late November

Here I sit, late in November, looking out the window at the falling leaves blowing in the cold wind. I am preparing for Thanksgiving knowing the weather will turn cold. How cold, the monkeys will know as they shake and shiver in the first freezing rain of the season …

Late in November. How late? Matsuo Basho died on November 28, 1694.

初しぐれ hatsu shigure means the first cold shower, the first winter rain of the season, most likely November.

The Dao – Chapter One

man on a rock looking at the distant mountains

Matsuo Bashō, the 17th-century Japanese haiku poet, didn’t directly write about Daoism. But he did dabble in Buddhism. And he traveled, one imagines, searching for the Way. He died, on November 28, 1694, on the way to the Grand Shrine in Ise, but got no further than Osaka. He was only 50.

Way beyond words, go —
All things arise from one source,
Travel and behold.
— The Dao, as One

Finding One’s Voice

coffee cup, glasses, and calendar

Find your voice
Inspire others
— the Eighth Habit
Bashō no yōna, Thoughts on Matsuo Basho and habits

It is a line from Stephen R, Covey’s book The Eighth Habit, From Effectiveness to Greatness, published in 2004. Covey could have taken a page from the life of Matsuo Basho who, in searching for his voice, went from child, to page, to student, to teacher, to traveler, to Master, and student again, then finally, a Legend.

It was the last in a series of books about 7 Habits. The seven habits being: be proactive, have a plan, prioritize, think positive to win, be empathetic, i.e. learn to listen to understand, then and only then, speak, synergize from strength to strength, finally energize and synthesize, create.

More succinctly: practice, practice, practice, practice how you practice, practice with others, practice together, practice alone, practice to win.

practice, practice, practice, practice how you practice
Find your voice and inspire others