On the second day of our festival, it is a great pleasure for us to introduce Helen McCarthy, a haiku poet, in London, UK.
Helen McCarthy writes books on Japanese animation and comics. She also writes about embroidery (and she hopes to start embroidering her haiku soon.)
She gives talks and workshops about anime, manga, and crafts, and she sometimes uses haiku in her workshops to encourage children to write poetry.
On April 13, 2010, I received an e-mail from her, and found that she has a friend in Akita and visited here in 2008, and that she loves haiku.
According to the second e-mail, her friend in Akita is Dr. Darren-Jon Ashmore at Akita International University. He is Head of Japan Studies, and a very creative person. He is a gifted model-maker and loves dolls and puppets.
Through her first e-mail, Helen McCarthy told us about how she found our website, and kindly contributed her haiku to our festival.
Dear Mr. Hiruta,
I found the AIHSTN website by accident. I was immediately attracted to it because I write haiku, and I came to Akita in 2008 to visit a friend who teaches at Akita International University. Akita is so very beautiful!
I started writing haiku several years ago, but never shared them. I am constantly inspired by nature, and most of my haiku are attempts to capture a moment of beauty. I am not very skilled in technical terms but I love to try and write what I see, hear, taste, smell or feel. I also write about moments in my life and feelings.
In December 2009, I decided to improve my skills by publishing haiku regularly and getting feedback on them. Twitter is a very good medium for this. It allows me to send my haiku directly to my blogs and my Facebook page, so they spread even further with
minimal effort and time. I have even started two renga – I think of these as haiku duets.
I would like to join the AIHSTN, and I have attached some of my work for you to read. All these haiku and more have been tweeted under Twitter name, tweetheart4711
With best wishes,
Helen McCarthy
From here I post her haiku, giving my interpretation in Japanese, which helps our readers appreciate them
First snows of winter –
Sudden, delicate, perfect
As a child’s laughter
冬の最初の雪 ―
にわかに、きめ細かく、完璧
子供の笑いのように
Bone dry stems stand tall
Amid new growth – skeletons
At spring’s waking-feast.
骨のような乾いた幹が高く立っている
新しい茂みの間 ― 骸骨のように
春の目覚めの祝祭に
A blaze of berries
Glowing through greengold ivy
Warms a wintry heart.
炎のようなベリー ―
緑の黄金色のツタを通して照り輝いている
冬のような心を暖かい気持ちにさせる
After snow comes rain:
hearts frozen dead by winter
drown in spring’s promise
雪が雨になる ―
冬になり死んだように冷え切っていた心
春の約束の中に溺れている
Spring shoots from cold ground,
Shyly, like a welcome guest
Arriving early
冷たい地面から春の芽が
おずおずと、歓迎されるお客のように
早く到着している
White mountains recede
Into mist, into distance –
Remembering dreams
白い雪が立ち退く
霞の中へ、彼方へと―
夢を思い出しながら
Moonlight silvers snow.
The first plum blossom opens
as Kyoto sleeps.
月光を浴び雪が白銀に輝く。
最初の梅の花が開く
京都の街が眠っている時に。
While I was sleeping
You left snow white hyacinths,
Their fragrance woke me.
眠っている間
あなたは雪のように白いヒヤシンスを置いていった
花のよい香りで私は目覚めました
Pale yellow tulips
Honouring my flowerbeds
Like golden trophies
淡黄色のチューリップ
私の花壇の誉れ
金色のトロフィーのように
Blue air, green water,
Red fired earth – life flashes in
A kingfisher flight
青い空、青々とした水、
赤く燃えるような地球 ― 生命がぱっと光る
川蝉の飛行の中で
Alchemy of rain –
Spring greens and colours, turning
Clouds into rainbows
雨の魔術 ―
春の緑と色、
雲を虹に化す
Sheets of antique rose
Damson pillows, softgold light –
Spring prepares for sleep.
骨董のバラのシート
インシチチアスモモの枕、柔らかな金色の光 ―
春は眠りを準備する
Helen McCarthy
Last of all, let me decorate our on line festival with the photo flowers presented by Patricia Lidia, a haiku poet, in Romania.
― Hidenori Hiruta
Akita International Haiku Network 