INVITATION TO THE WORKS OF KYOSHI

蛇逃げて我を見し眼の草に残る Hebi nigete ware o mishi me no kusa ni nokoru Literal translation: 　　The snake fled 　　His eyes that watched me 　　Were left in the grass

　　Seasonal word; a snake (summer)

　　This haiku was written in 1916, when Kyoshi was 42years old.

Let's imagine Kyoshi meeting a snake in the grass. He was probably scared by it, but at the same time, must have been fascinated by its sparkling green eyes.

After the snake fled, he felt as if there was an afterimage of its green bewitching eyes still in the grass. Does he show here any dislike or fear for the snake? Maybe a little, but I sense here a feeling of awe for the snake and for nature itself.

This haiku must be a representation of what Kyoshi actually saw in his encounter with a snake, but it was also what he saw with his mind's eyes. This poem was born on the border of reality and imagination, out of both objective and subjective description. It was not just a sketch of a scene of nature; it was also delineated through the eyes of his mind.