O Quiet One

A prayer for living lightly in a passing world

”This song, O Quiet One, was inspired by a famous verse attributed to Sami Mansei, preserved in the Man’yōshū, the oldest surviving anthology of Japanese poetry.

Yo no naka o
nani ni tatoemu
asabiraki
kogiinishi fune no
ato naki gotoshi

Our life in this world,
to what shall I compare it?
It is like a boat
rowing out at break of day,
leaving not a trace behind.

Life appears, moves quietly, and disappears again. Like a boat crossing the harbor at dawn, it leaves no lasting mark on the water. And yet, while it passes, it holds beauty, stillness, and mystery. It feels like such a pure and simple expression of impermanence where we remember how brief life is, how delicate, how impossible to hold.

O Quiet One grew from that feeling: a prayer to live this brief life lightly, with humility, tenderness, and wisdom. A reminder that all things pass, and that this very passing can awaken the heart.

🎵 Listen here

O Quiet One,
teach me to live this brief life lightly.

Like a boat at dawn
crossing the harbor without a trace,
may I pass through this world
with humility and tenderness.

When I cling, soften me.
When I fear change, steady me.
When I forget how fragile this life is,
return me to the simple truth:
all things pass.

May I love well,
walk gently,
and leave behind
not noise, but blessing.

May this fleeting life
awaken wisdom in me,
and may my heart rest
in what does not perish.