The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,—
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
But East and West will pinch the heart
That can not keep them pushed apart;
And he whose soul is flat—the sky
Will cave in on him by and by.
Out of the many beautiful things in Japan – and in Kamakura in particular – the ginkgo tree that stood at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu was one of the most. (See my post here from the first time I visited it.) I was looking forward to showing it to my mother when she came to visit this spring vacation. So I was devastated – as were many – when I woke up on March 10th and the morning news showed it had been blown over by the night’s storm and lay shattered and surrounded by crime-scene tape.
I took her there anyway, curious what they would do with the remains. I got a little choked up when we saw they were hard at work, apparently trying to get it to resprout – but nothing compared to how I got a week later when the news showed it covered in fresh green. I hope in another thousand years it will be as adored by tourists and locals alike as it is now.
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