Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

In the empty mountains
The leaves of the bamboo grass
Rustle in the wind.
I think of a girl
Who is not here.

Sasa no ha wa
Miyama mo saya n
Sayagedomo
Ware wa imo omo
Wakare kinureba


- translated by Kenneth Rexroth
from One Hundred Poems from the Japanese