Issa would know what I mean.
Of his 9,300 poems, here are three.
blowing from the east
west south north...
autumn gale
vast sky
vast earth
autumn passes too
behind me
the autumn wind blows
me home
The translator, David G. Lanoue, suggests that on one level, "home" in the last poem means death, our final destination. Tradition probably supports that interpretation. But at the same time, having just been out in the wind and having it behind me only half of my journey, I think that "home" might indeed mean home -- the sense that having fought one's way to whatever errand one needed to run, one is now happy to be hurried home, no matter how humble "home" may be.
Then there is Thay's sense of "home." The autumn wind nudging us, pushing us, back home, to the present moment. If you're not paying attention, you'll fall down.
Translations by David G. Lanoue. Visit his website to search through them all.
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