Feb '04 [Home] Poetry

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Haiku Masters: Transl. Michael Bourdaghs Feature: Peter Robinson, Tomer Inbar et al. Twelve Peter Hanke

Shodo Shonin and his disciples came upon the torrential River Daiya while exploring the Nikko mountain area in 767. In answer to prayer, the god Jinja Daio appeared and flung a red snake and a blue snake across the river which intertwined to form a bridge. The red-lacquered Sacred or Snake Bridge (Shinkyo) seen here was built in 1636 on stone pillars. It is 28 meters long and 7 meters wide, with a drop of 16 meters to the water. [Eds.] [View from bridge]