Summer grasses / all that is left of the dreams of soldiers

[Taro Toporific]

Summer grasses
all that is left of the dreams of soldiers
- - - Basho

The dreams of soldiers
BBC / Friday, 14 March, 2003, 18:47 GMT
The words of a long-dead Japanese poet might seem an unusual choice to begin a reflection on the coming war against Iraq. But I feel the words of the great poet of the Samurai era - Basho - are more than usually apposite this morning....