| keitoh-no juhshigohon-mo arinu
beshi |
|
cockscombs
must have been fourteen or fifteen
blooming over there |
 -
MASAOKA Shiki |
| tampopo-no
katasa-ya umi-no hi-mo ichirin |
|
a dandelion bloom
so hard!! over the sea
the sun |
-
NAKAMURA Kusatao |
| hakutai-no
kakaku shingari-ni neko-no ko-mo |
|
the days and months travellers
through a hundred generations
kitten tags along |
-
KATOH Shuuson |
| n.b.
the first two lines of the above haiku are a direct
quote from the opening passage of Basho's famous haibun "Narrow
Road to the Interior." |
| ware-wo ikarashime
kono tsuki-wo marokarashime |
|
me, it fills with anger
this moon, it fills
and makes it whole |
-
TAKESHITA Shizunojo |
| sensoh-ga
rohka-no oku-ni tatte ita |
|
The War
in the dark at the end of the hall
it stood |
-
WATANABE Hakusen |
| okoranu-kara
aono-de shimeru tomo-no kubi |
|
because he never angers
i tackle him and wring his neck
in the long grass |
-
SHIMAZU Ryoh |
| numa ichimen
mokuhen kawaki hirogaru isha |
|
middle of a marsh
bits of timber drying out
consoled and comforted |
- HORI Ashio |
| empitsu-no
isho naraba wasure yasu-karamu |
|
written in pencil
such a last Will and Testament
should be easily ignored |
-
HAYASHIDA Kineo |
| hoto-ni naru
mugi tohtokere aosanga |
|
born from her flesh
this barley, a blessing -
the verdant hills |
-
SATOH Onifusa |
| n.b.
Legend has it that the grains and cereals came into being when
they sprang from the womb of the goddess Ohketsuhime upon her
slaying by the god Susanoo-no-mikoto. |
| ie-goto-ni
chikyuh-no hito-ya ama-no gawa |
|
in every dwelling
a denizen of Earth -
the Milky Way |
-
MITSUHASHI Toshio |
| Reviews: |
the days and months travellers
through a hundred generations
kitten tags along |
-
KATOH Shuuson
|
|
"The days and months travelers through a hundred generations"
is a direct quote from the opening passage of Basho's famous
travel diary "Narrow Road to the Interior," which
goes on and the passing years are wanderers too. Shuuson was
a leading authority on Basho with his own interpretations
of his literary works and I am sure he felt this passage so
famous that he could employ it without any reservations. I
feel it should be read in the archaic pronunciation of "hakutai-no
kakaku" rather than the modern "hyakudai-no kakyaku."
This raises the tone of the poem to a level at which the irreverence
of "kitten tags along" no longer overly concerns
us.
The days and months are travelers, filing by.And at the very
end of this procession is a kitten, and it too files by. The
life of a kitten, no matter how protected by its human owner,
is as ephemeral as time itself. Smiling, the poet looks out
upon this transient world. |
|
born from her flesh
this barley, a blessing -
the verdant hills |
-
SATOH Onifusa
|
|
The phrase "born from her flesh - this barley"
alludes to a legend in Japanese mythology. In the Kojiki (712,
Records of Ancient Matters) the goddess Ohketsuhime, who presides
over food and sustenance, was slain by the god Susanoo-no-mikoto
and from her vagina sprang forth wheat and barley, bringing
the grains and cereals into being. It is early summer now
and green fields of barley fill the lush valley, the wind
making waves through the barley heads, these waves spreading
out to the horizon. It is nearing the end of May, harvest
time for the wheat, and even the hills are verdant and green.
The poet,imagining the happenings of legend, is in a state
of mind where every single grain of wheat is a precious gift
from heaven.
It is perhaps because the poet has experienced the growth
and maturation of the grain with such depth of feeling that
the vagina (hoto) of the dead goddess can become such a target
for our affection. Put another way, this poet, who was born
and bred to the hills and fields of the far north provinces,
has grown up feeling the earth between his feet and experiencing
directly the life-giving power that it holds. It is no doubt
exactly because of this that we ourselves are able to experience
the universe within this haiku as if it were real. |
|
