Death Poem
by Hanabusa Ikkei
translated by Yoel Hoffmann
I thought to live
two centuries, or three—
yet here comes death
to me, a child
just eighty-five years old.
From Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death, compiled and translated by Yoel Hoffmann (Tuttle Publishing, 1998).
I love this poem, what kind of poem is it? My Mom passed last year at 85, and this poem fit her perfectly. Just a big kid! Thanks for sharing…