"Have you noticed how clean and glistening the cobblestones are after the rain? Real works of art! And flowers? No words can describe them. One can only exclaim “AH!” in admiration. You must learn to understand the ‘AH!” of things.” --Matsuo Basho

[caption id="attachment_1786" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="author photo courtesy of jacketmagazine.com"][/caption] In the writings of 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, poetry exists as  a process of recognition and transformation: of Oku no Hosomichi, "the narrow path to the interior" that is accessed through the subtle, delicate experiences rooting us to the present. No better exploration of these experiences can be found than in the work of BOA Korean writer Ko Un, author of Flowers of a Moment, whose original poetry and artwork is currently being featured on the blog Basho's Road. Ko Un's own narrow path to the interior takes shape in Flowers of a Moment; his 185 brief poems are described by co-translator Gary Gach as "poised as naturally as a tree unfolding 185 branches, one by one..." Not only is Ko Un's book a display of incomparable poetry, it is also an exhibition of the poet's own "treasurable brush drawings," as illustrations of the English-language edition. Flowers of a Moment treads an elegant and gentle path of zen-like study on the course of what Norbert Blei describes in his short chapter as Basho's Road. To experience Ko Un's poignant reflections and to, perhaps, explore your own "Oku no Hosomichi," be sure to check out Flowers of a Moment at the BOA Bookstore here!