nothing to do but walk covered in seeds nothing to do but return
aruku hoka nai kusa no mi tsukete modoru hoka nai
1937–1938 · Late years at Gochū-an
Sōmokutō · Persimmon Leaves (Kaki no ha)
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Nothing to do but walk, so he walks; covered in grass seeds, nothing to do but go back, so he goes back. The repeated "nothing to do but" traces the shape of a day with no choices in it. Only the seeds clinging to his clothes are proof that he walked at all.