" And I sought, whence is Evil: I set before the eye of my spirit the whole creation; whatsoever we see therein, — sea, earth, air, stars, trees, moral creatures, — yea, whatsoever there is we do not see, — angels and spiritual powers. Where is evil, and whence comes it, since God the Good hath created all things? Why made He anything at all of evil, and not rather by His Almightiness cause it not to be? These thoughts I turned in my miserable heart, overcharged with most gnawing cares.

In response to Kikaku's hokku on smartweed/firefly:
With the morning-glories I eat my meal, I'm that kind of man

In coming to Japan, Monk Ganjin of Shodai Temple more than seventy times endured difficulties on his ship, and because the salty winds blew into his eyes he finally became blind. I looked at his holy statue:
With a young leaf may I wipe the dew from your eyes?

In Amatsu there was a narrow road through the paddies, and the wind blowing up from the sea was very cold:
A winter day: frozen on horseback, a shadow

Whiter than the stones on Stone Mountain — the autumn wind

White fish clustering in seaweed, if caught, will surely melt

Through the long day the skylarks have not sung enough

This white chrysanthemum doesn't have a speck of dust that hits the eye

The rich eat meat, the strong have vegetable roots, but I am poor:
This snowy morning, alone, I've managed to chew some dried salmon

This road: no one taking it as autumn ends