Santōka Alarm
日本語EN

from the morning earth i pick it up

asa no tsuchi kara hirou

1933–1934 · Begging journeys out from the hermitage
Sōmokutō · On the Begging Road (Gyōkotsu tojō)

Notes

From the damp morning earth he picks something up — a fallen fruit, a vegetable; the poem does not say. Leaving off the name of what he picks, only the cold and the feel of the morning earth remain. A life in which the day begins from the ground.

Follow the words

Browse all 701 poems

山頭火アラーム アプリアイコン

Wake to this poem.

Santōka Alarm is an iOS app that wakes you each morning with a single poem.
Set a poem you love as your alarm.

Download on the App Store iOS 26+