The bronze man
Sits under the basho tree
On a prominent hill
Near the end of the world.
He sits as a Buddha
As a sage in a calm--
With inward gazing eyes
And c loudless mind.
Before him
Rests the egg-shape
Of the universe
On a silken pillow.
Immutable.
There
He waits
As he fasts,
And he thinks
As he dreams
Through the countless days
And the timeless nights
Of human destiny,
Of man and of woman,
Of life and of death,
And of love
More eternal
Than bronze.