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| The woods advances over decades into the uncultivated field. |
Shogun Ieyasu
Planted sixteen thousand trees
Around the temple
Then walked among them
Congratulating himself
On his sanctity.
On this mountaintop
The woods does its own planting
One seed at a time,
Praise to wind and birds
To all free souls who have
No need for shrines.
– with a bow to the "easeful learning and well-tuned orneriness" of Hayden Carruth.
