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THoughts

When all thoughts
 Are exhausted
 I slip into the woods
 And gather
 A pile of shepherd's purse.

 Like the little stream
 Making its way
 Through the mossy crevices
 I, too, quietly
 Turn clear and transparent.

-- Ryokan,
translated by John Stevens

 
From DEWDROPS ON A LOTUS LEAF by Ryokan, translated by John Stevens.
© 1993 by John Stevens.
Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston, www.shambhala.com
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