Nocturne No. 93 

Li Po wrote something like this:


‘This river town could be in a painting . . .’ 

And here in the West, I think: so could Guernica.

 — J.T. Whitehead

 *

Nocturne No. 94 

Buson wrote something like this:


‘No inshore whales are in my sight, & Night falls on the seas.’ 

& here I thought it was the fishing industry. 

 — J.T. Whitehead

*

Nocturne No. 95 

Buson wrote something like this: ‘Utter aloneness: 

this is another great pleasure in an Autumnal dusk . . .’ 

Fine. But I would still miss my lover.

 — J.T. Whitehead

*

Nocturne No. 96 

I feel some small joy knowing when I see the Moon


that the Sun, like a smiling blond baby, kisses the graves


of those Haiku Masters. Small, like an egg, an atom, or a gem. 

— J.T. Whitehead