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In my house by Kobayashi Issa (1763 - 1828) Timeline English version by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto Original Language Japanese Buddhist : Zen / Chan 18th Century In my house mice and fireflies get along.     -- from Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk / Translated by Takashi Ikemoto Amazon.com	Recommended Books A Box of Zen: Haiku the Poetry of Zen, Koans the Lessons of Zen, Sayings the Wisdom of Zen, Edited by Manuela Dunn Mascetti / Edited by Timothy Hugh Barrett The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell The Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library), Edited by Sam Hamill / Edited by J. P. Seaton Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk / Translated by Takashi Ikemoto
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

Several of Issa's poems refer to fireflies. They seem to represent a luminous aspect of the awareness, that which hovers in quiet delight in the summer night.

Mice might suggest to us that part of the mind that scurries and scratches and gets into everything -- the busy mind that loves to hear itself squeak from every corner.

What does it mean, then, for mice and fireflies to get along in Issa's house?

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2009 by Ivan M. Granger.
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