For New Year 2012 (6)

 

Here is a photo of the Omono River（雄物川） in Akita prefecture （秋田県）, Northern Honshu, Japan.

The photo was taken at the riverbank at the end of January.

 

 

 

氷結に鯉のまどろむ北の川　　　　　　   秀法

hyouketsu ni  koi no madoromu  kita no kawa

 

a sheet of ice

keeps carp in repose

northern rivers                       Hidenori

 

 

This haiku appears in the following blog on February 7.

http://akitahaiku.blogspot.com/

 

Lastly, let me post haiku and photos by Michael Todd, Ruth Ashworth, and Gaby Meindl, who studied about haiku and learned to write haiku at the class by Alexander Dolin, PhD, Professor of Japanese Literature and Civilization Studies at Akita International University（国際教養大学）.　

 

Michael Todd contributed the works of haiku and photos to us in November, 2011.

 

 

 

一羽の重々しいカラスが鳴く

赤は今や白で覆われた、

雪が音もなく降る

 

 

世界は花盛り、

美しい桜が舞い踊る、

冬に別れを告げながら

 

 

疲れた波が浜辺にひたひたと打ち寄せる、

太陽が悼みながら照りつける、

近くで犬が一匹吠える

 

 

紅い葉があせて散る、

冷たい風が荒れ狂いながら吹いてくる、

雨の匂い

 

 

 

夜の暗いベール、

町はプリント基盤のようになる、

雲が月の上に漂う

 

 

Ruth Ashworth also contributed the works of haiku to us in November, 2011.

 

 

 

 

足下で踏みつぶされて

金色の葉が塵になる

風が吹き飛ばす

 

 

 

滝のそばで

葉が蝶のように舞い降りる

夏が続いているけれども

 

 

 

窓の外側では

緑がこはく色に変わっている

秋はいつ来たのかしら？

 

 

 

まるで地球が血を流しているみたい

復活の前に

何もかも赤い

 

 

 

この落葉は

他のものの中で人目につくかしら

この森のフロアで？

 

 

Gaby Meindl also contributed the works of haiku to us in November, 2011.

 

An onomatopoeia

Whoosh, crickle, crack, crunch

 

一つのオノマトペア

ヒュー、カチッ、パン、バリッ

 

For this haiku, I wanted to incorporate a really challenging word, such an onomatopoeia, and then built the rest of the haiku around it.  It’s about the sounds of crunching leaves during fall.

 

Basked in the sunlight

A lone daisy among weeds

Growing and growing

 

日光を浴び暖まり

雑草のなかの一本のヒナギク

どんどん伸びていく

 

This haiku is about the spring when flowers begin to bloom.  There are often big patches of grass with very few flowers, or very small flowers, but sometimes there is one strong, big flower among the weeds that always astounds me as to the speed it grew.

  

Wrenitt birds perch high

Their cheeps pierce the empty skies

All others flown south

 

ミソサザイが高いところにとまる

鳴く声が虚空をつんざく

他の鳥は皆南へ飛んで行った

 

Wrenitts are sedentary birds from the American pacific coast.  They do not migrate south, but many birds do, so this is a haiku about their loneliness during winter.

 

Drunk off the sunlight

Trees blush in vivid pink hues

Sakura bloom free

 

日光に酔いしれて

木々は鮮やかなピンク色に赤らむ

桜の花が惜しみなく咲く

 

The pink colors of sakura have been compared to a lot of things, so I wanted to try something I have never heard them compared to before, drunkenness.  Many people have a tendency to get a reddish or pink hue to their skin while drinking, much like the pink of a sakura tree.

 

 

The next posting ‘For New Year 2012 (7)’ appears on February 18.

 

― Hidenori Hiruta