Sometimes it seems like the world is against us. Yet even in the face of that adversity, we see a reason not to give up. 200 years ago, Issa summed it up thusly...

As the saying goes "Life is hard and then you die". I think we all feel that way at times. Sometimes it seems like nothing we can do comes out right, and we are assaulted from all sides with failures. We try to remain positive, we hold our head high, but then life just sucker punches us from behind. Life can be relentless.

It was even harder for Issa than for most. I've detailed some of his sufferings in this series: kids and wife dying, step mother kicking him out of the house and then trying to steal his inheritance, losing his home in fire. Thorns and hardships.

Yet for all of that, Issa viewed the world as a good place. A difficult and testing place, for sure, but ultimately a good one. We can see his view perfectly in this haiku. For all the evil that seems to at times be omnipresent, there is beauty and purity. The lotus is the symbol of this purity and enlightenment in eastern culture. Many of you know the classical drawing of the Buddha sitting in meditation on a lotus blossom, metaphorically showing he is the pure one. The lotus is seem as special due so growing up in a murky pond, yet appearing clean and pure, without any of the dirt of the pond on it.

Issa's message might be a bit overt, but it is no less inspiring. For all the bad of the world, there is beauty to be found.

The kigo (season word) here is hasu, lotus blossoms. It is a kigo for late summer, which we are in now according to the traditional Japanese almanac.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.

1. That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩