On the sixth day of the twelfth month, 1935, unable to bear sitting alone in the hermitage, I set out to travel.
in the water even the cloud-shadows leave something unsettled
mizu ni kumokage mo ochitsukasenai mono ga aru
1937–1938 · Late Gochū-an period
Sōmokutō · Persimmon Leaves (Kaki no ha)
A poem from the day, in December 1935, when he set out on the road because he could no longer bear to sit alone in the hermitage. Even the cloud-shadows crossing the water's surface cannot hold still. What will not settle is neither water nor cloud, but the breast of the one watching them.