Yoshitoshi's 100 Aspects of the Moon
A Haibun Collection
Fox-Trot-9

0: Yoshitoshi's Last Words

It seems the night itself is tolling for my end. The crickets' chirrup, the martin's song, the breeze wafting past the trees—they all portend of death coming from afar, getting closer and closer. Perhaps when I should fall asleep, the night would herald the kiss of death whose taste is sweet as sake mixed with blossoms, taking me away into the land of dreams to knock upon the doorstep of eternity. But not yet!

Holding back the night
With its increasing brilliance—
The [full] summer moon.

—Yoshitoshi's Death Poem from Wikipedia

(To be continued...)

A/N: The poem was composed in June 9, 1892, the day he died. The prose part of the haibun belongs to me, though.