We walk on the roof of hell, gathering blossoms.
Issa, 18th century Japanese poet
“For many years, I heard that poem only one way. I heard it as a statement of a kind of bitterness, of our obliviousness to suffering. That we are gathering blossoms, while ignoring the great suffering everywhere under our feet. But as I have been revisited by that Haiku, during the time of the coronavirus, I have heard it with more equality between the blossoms and the hell realm. And, I have understood it as the blossoms continue to matter as much as the suffering does. It is perfectly true that they coexist in our lives. We walk on the roof of hell and we can still gather blossoms. We gather blossoms and all around us is suffering. This poem has changed its meaning to fit the time.”
Jane Hirshfield, poet and author of Ledger
