"The bud of the brush blooms"

Hitsurai-bokka (筆蕾墨華)

An ink brush, its form a flower bud
is waiting for the moment
to be sunk in sumi ink.
The brush tip swollen with sumi
settles on the silk and
spreads into a bud.
The heart and hand of the painter
with the brush tip embracing the sumi
nurtures the seedlings of images
cultured in the field of silk.
And in time
flourishes in the garden of flowers.
The bud of the brush,
sumi blooms
into flowers.

Nagahiro Kinoshita Translated by Katsumi