Issa

His name means "cup of tea."

 His life was filled with suffering, yet he wrote fun, peace-filled poems.

                                                                                                               artist's link

Climb Mount Fuji,

O snail,

 but slowly, slowly.

What a strange thing!

to be alive

beneath cherry blossoms.

Don't worry, spiders,
I keep house
casually.



Asked how old he was,
the boy in the new kimono
stretched out all five fingers.



Even with insects--
some can sing,
some can't.

Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827)  

The American Revolution began when Issa was twelve-years-old.  

All Haiku were taken from The Essential Haiku by Robert Hass.