I will loan you, for a brief period, An offspring of mine, He said. For you to love the while he lives, What's more, grieve for when he's dead. It might be six or seven years, Or on the other hand twenty-a

裏を見せ表を見せて散る紅葉 ura wo mise omote wo misete chiru momiji it shows its back then, its front falling autumn leaf —Ryōkan (Tr. David LaSpina) (Print by Tsuzen Nakajima) This was Ryokan's death poem, told to