Refraction

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Fishing boats at Choshi in Shimosa: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) from the series One Thousand Pictures of the Ocean, c. 1833-1834 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Caught up in the Great Wave
for a little while

you can have the moment, but then
it turns

here is the crest
here the refraction

it turns, you can have the moment
again, but not the same

the wave breaks back
the carp can't leap back up the falls

Carp leaping up a cascade: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), n.d.

Kohada Koheiji: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) from the series One Hundred Stories, c. 1831-1832 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Ono Falls on the Kiso Kaido Road: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) from the series Tour of the Waterfalls in Various Provinces, c.1833 (Art Institute of Chicago)

Yōrō waterfall in Mino Province: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), from the series Visiting famous waterfalls of Japan, between 1790-1840 (Library of Congress)



Kirifuri Falls at Mount Kurokami in Shimosuke: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), from the series Visiting famous waterfalls of Japan), between 1790-1840 (Library of Congress)

The Great Wave off Kanagawa: Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, c. 1830-32 (Art Institute of Chicago)