Tea Haiku: Basho

Matsuo Basho was a Japanese haiku poet who lived in the late 1600'ds, about the time that tea was making it's journey Westward into Europe. The son of a Samurai, Basho was slated for a life in the military, but his path took a turn when he became the servant of Todo Yoshitada, with whom he began writing and learning haiku.

Basho's life and poetry were influenced by nature, simplicity, wilderness and travel and marked often with reclusiveness and sometimes with an abundance of followers, disciples and students.

Since their creation and even in current times, his poems have been highly regarded and Basho is given credit, in some schools, for the very creation of haiku poetry. His poems are known to impart a sense of peace in a hectic world.

Here are some of my favorites:

A monk sips morning tea, it's quiet, the chrysanthemum's flowering.

After the chrysanthemum besides the daikon, there is nothing.

On horseback half-asleep, half dreaming the moon far off, smoke for the morning tea.

Photo: Cameilia sinensis, the tea plant at the US Botanical Garden in D.C.