Chiyo-ni (Kaga no Chiyo) (1703-1775). "Kaga no Chiyo, considered one of the foremost women haiku poets, began writing at the age of seven. She studied under two haiku masters who had themselves apprenticed with the great poet, Basho.... In 1755, Chiyo became a Buddhist nun -- not, she said, in order to renounce the world, but as a way 'to teach her heart to be like the clear water which flows night and day.'"

reference: women's early art web site: http://www.womensearlyart.net/chiyo/

Image: digitized from a photograph of Barb's Garden, Vancouver Island, B.C. by Ray Rasmussen. Digital image produced in collaboration with Debi Bender.