fluttering butterfly cannot sing
hirahira chō wa utaenai
1937–1938 · Late years at Gochū-an
Sōmokutō · Persimmon Leaves (Kaki no ha)
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Birds sing and insects cry, but the butterfly cannot sing. Having no voice, it dances instead, fluttering — and perhaps that is the butterfly's own speech. Santōka pauses on the mute beauty of a voiceless life.