Waka is a Japanese word for poem that surfaced more than a millenium ago to differentiate the Chinese kanshi poems from the work of local scribes. A waka can have a long or short form, and the short ones can often read like haikus, a poetic embodiment of transience. This short one was written by Dogen in the 13th century.
Waka on Impermanence
The world? Moonlit
Drops shaken
From the crane’s bill
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