Three Poems By Ryokan About His Begging Bowl

In my little begging bowl
Violets and dandelions,
Mixed together
As an offering to the
Buddhas of the Three Worlds.


Picking violets
By the roadside
I absent-mindedly
Left my little bowl behind--
O poor little bowl!


I've forgotten my
Little begging bowl again--
No one will take you,
Surely no one will take you:
My sad little bowl!