Barn’s burnt down—
now
I can see the moon.

-Mitzuta Masahide

This poem returns to me again and again.You’ll find many interpretations of it, but I haven’t found a whole lot about Masahide himself.

Sometimes it takes a drastic measure for us to wake up and see what’s really going on. I look at it as a saving grace, realizing there’s something bigger than ourselves to focus on when something relatively mundane has fallen or been taken away.

This is not to say we shouldn’t mourn what’s passing. Being very much of this earth, sometimes I do wonder about the calamity  between the lines!

Naturally, you can interpret this however you want, especially as we’re missing nuances from the original 17th century Japanese….