chikamichi ya mizu fumi wataru satsukiame
on the shortcut path,
stepping through water to cross the meadow
in the summer rains.
© Buson (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)
The Shortcut (Haibun)
Many years ago, we decided to visit my husband's mother who lived in Tuscany. Usually we'd take the highway to get there but we decided that it would be more interesting to get off the highway at a certain point and take a short cut. This way we reasoned we could avoid having to go all the way to Florence and then cut back to get to the village where she lived.
We got off the highway at Barberino di Mugello. Once we arrived in that town, we followed directions in order to get to Prato which is near to where his mother lived. We found ourselves in no time in the middle of a dark forest that ran over and through a mountainous area. Sometimes the "road" was little more than a gravelled pathway just wide enough for an automobile. At one point we took a wrong turn and found ourselves at an abandoned farm house and a dead-end. Of course we had to turn back until we found the right road, half an hour later.
Eventually we did find our way to his mother's village, but we were 5 hours late arriving and his mother was frantic with worry!
through the Tuscan hills
shortcut through the empty forests
lost in the dark
shortcut through the empty forests
lost in the dark
