WALKING IN SPRING FROM RAICHO GUESTHOUSE

TO SEE THE WATERFALLS OF NORIKURA

the high snow well into spring keeps the gorges

below Mt. Norikura loud and rushing

to climb there you'll have to pass the wild azalea

and listen to a cuckoos drumming all morning

if the water-bananas are blooming keep your eyes

on the meadows for the pale flash of a Siberian Bunting

and just when your feet are tired of stumbling over 

knotted hemlock roots and up the birch lined ridgebacks

you'll come to rest under the resounding 

sun mist radiance and falling wind of Sobundaki falls

cleansed a little by the spray of Norikuras waters

you'll think fondly of starting home