Maps drawn by a poet

(Being given by his brother a locket of his mother's white hair:m ) Should I hold them in my hand, They will disappear In the warmth of my tears, Icy strings of frost. Roses of Sharon At the roadside Perishing one after another In the mouth of a horse (at the Zenkoji Temple:m ) Four gates And four different sects Sleep as one Under the bright moon.

-- A Selection of Haiku from The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketchesm -- translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa

(Penguin Classics, 1966)