Heidegger in Japan

07 January 2021

https://poems.culturing.net/2021/01/heidegger-in-japan/

For John Rawls

What a journey,
eastward
to a land no less
devoted to its nothingness
than Martin’s own,

and yet one prone
to wholeness nonetheless.

How much to learn,
to see,
and maybe dream
on long-abandoned beaches
near the silent sea.

Old Martin,
having conquered Europe,
set his sights on Asia,
found himself there, conquered,
none the wiser,

Then returning to a Europe
plain and bright, devout
but dour in appearance
as in mind,

what did he hope to find?

No more the plainly spoken
One, to rule us all, no more!

But maybe
some forgiveness
for us, mortals after all.