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Water plants beneath a poem by Ōtomo no Yakamochi, brushed by an early Edo-period #Buddhist monk: “When I see the frost white on the bridge the magpies spread across the sky, I know the night has grown late.” #Calligraphy (via @zenincolor@mastodon.social, mastodon.social/@zenincol…)

A square sheet of cream-colored paper with a faded, slightly textured surface and a darker band along the top. Vertical columns of black-ink cursive Japanese kana run down the page, with thicker, bolder strokes on the right and thinner, more flowing strokes on the left. Two diagonal dark strokes slant across the upper left. Soft ochre-gold washes form clustered blossoms scattered across the page, and a blue-green plant with pointed leaves and slender stems rises from the bottom center. Near the bottom, a brown wash and a few small dark marks sit among the blossoms. The overall effect is a classical poem paired with a delicate painting of flowers.
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