AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Although he was a shōgun, Minamoto no Sanetomo devoted most of his time to writing and to calligraphy. This poem is an example of one of his hundreds of tanka.

BIO:

Christian Bancroft received his MA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas, where he was the recipient of a Michener Fellowship. In 2011, he was the recipient of an honorarium from Notre Dame for his poetry translations. He now teaches at Austin Community College and at Trinity Episcopal School.