Santōka Alarm
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walking in the warmth — camellias fall plop plop

nukūte arukeba tsubaki potapota

1936–1937 · At Gochū-an hermitage
Sōmokutō · A Landscape of Weeds (Zassō fūkei)

Notes

Walking through the mild sunlight, one finds camellias dropping with a soft plop. Camellias fall whole rather than shedding petals, and that weight comes through. The poem is built entirely of words that strike the body directly — nukūte (warm), potapota (plop plop) — a spring poem felt before it is parsed.

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