On June 30, Ms. Patricia Lidia, a haiku friend in Romania, kindly sent me haiku donated by Mr. Vasile Moldovan.
First of all, let me introduce Mr. Moldovan briefly.
Vasile Moldovan, born in a Transylvanian village in 1949, is co-founder (1991) and chairman (2001 – 2009) of the Romanian Haiku Society. He has published five haiku books: Via Dolorosa, The Moon’s Unseen Face, Noah’s Ark, Ikebana and On a Summer Day; and together with Magdalena Dale the renku book Fragrance of Lime.
Secondly, let me take up Mr. Moldovan’s haiku book On a Summer Day.
To my great delight, I accepted his book as a present in January, 2011.
Mr. Moldovan writes his haiku on the back cover of his haiku book.
Looking at people
listening to Nature
…on a summer day
Here is a photo of the front cover of his haiku book.
Lastly, let me post Mr. Moldovan’s haiku with my Japanese translations.
PRAYER FOR JAPAN 日本のための祈り
HAIKU
ByVasile Moldovan,Romania
Just before the disaster
the bred hen abandons
her comfortable nest
天災のちょっと前
めんどりが去る
居心地の良い巣から
Predicting the disaster,
now even the mute cat
Is mewing
天災を予言して、
今無言の猫でさえ
ニャーニャー鳴いている
Hell on Earth-
the quake and tsunami
hand in glove
地球上の地獄 ―
地震と津波
グローブの中で手を握る
Being in such a tear…
earthquake in collusion
with tsunami
そんな狂暴の中で，，，
地震が共謀している
津波と
All quaking,
only the Mt Fuji
unflinchingly
全てが揺れている、
ただ富士山だけ
たじろがない
STOP PRESS:
the quake wave rounded already
the whole world
報道をやめよ：
地震による波はすでに一周した
全世界を
On the waste beach
only clams without shells
and empty shells
荒廃の浜辺には
殻のない二枚貝だけ
そして空の貝だけ
Blockhouses in ruin-
the dead inboxes full up
of questions
廃墟の中の避難家屋 ―
廃用受信箱は一杯
安否の問いで
Blast inFukushima?
in its own cobweb
a dead spider
福島の爆発？
そのクモの巣の中に
死んだクモ
Tokonoma-
mother and daughter
praying together
床の間 ―
母と娘
一緒に祈っている
Shinto shrine-
shadows of hands in prayer
moving on the walls
神社 ―
祈っている両手の影
壁面で動いている
Nuclear danger-
a bottleful of spring water
from hand to hand
原子力の危険 ―
びん一杯の泉水
手から手に
These people lost all,
but they (all) are the heirs-at-law
of hope
この人たちは全てを失った、
しかしみんな義理の相続人
希望の相続人
…However a sparkle
at the confines of the earth-
the hope itself
．．．しかしながら輝きが
地球の辺境に ―
希望そのきらめき
On the victimes’ tombs
bunches of forget-me-nots
and haiku tributes
被災者のお墓の上に
わすれな草の花束
そして俳句のお供え
White rain-
cherry petals washing the traces
of the last disaster
白い雨 ―
桜の花びらが跡を洗っている
この前の天災の跡を
A Triumphal Arc
over this Torii Gate…
the double rainbow
凱旋門
この鳥居の門の上に．．．
二重の虹
NewPhoenix-
Fukushima rising again
from its own ash
新しい不死鳥 ―
福島が再び立ち上がっている
自らの灰から
The next posting ‘3.11 Haiku from Vasile Moldovan, Romania (2) ’ appears on November 5.
― Hidenori Hiruta (member of HIA)
Akita International Haiku Network 