Savouring Samsara

Leaf 275 – Reflections

 

One of the things about living in Tokyo which never ceases to amaze me is how rapidly things come and go. I’ve seen so many seemingly thriving bars and restaurants disappear. Often, they are simply replaced – renamed and re-purposed, as in most other cities. But here too, buildings seem to go up and down with amazing speed. Navigating the city by such landmarks is hazardous. You can frequently be thrown completely off-course by such disappearances. Impermanence is everywhere. Here today, gone tomorrow. I suppose it simply teaches us that we shouldn’t get too attached to material tastes, but instead, we should always keep an open-appetite for the new ...

 

 

Where we used to eat

tatsuta-age oroshi daikon

– now heaped rubble.

 

 

***

 

 

Tokyo restaurants

come and go

– samsara.

 

Tatsuta-age oroshi daikon

 

 

 The first of these two poems was posted on Bluesky in response to a #dailyhaikuprompt (daikon), the second was also originally posted on Bluesky as a standalone poem. Photograph credits: Tabelog & Maruha Nichiro