Basho

A bee

staggers out

of the peony.

His most recognized work is Narrow Road to the Deep North...also translated as Journey to the Interior. A Buddhist, Basho was often mistaken for a priest while on the road in the 1600s.

But it was the banana tree at his home that spoke to him.

He wrote, The leaves are big enough to cover a harp. The tree does bear flowers, but there is nothing gay about them. The big trunk of the tree is untouched by the axe, for it is utterly useless as building wood. I love the tree, however, for its very uselessness...I sit underneath it, and enjoy the wind and rain that blow against it.