World Haiku Series 2019 (17) Haiku by Antonio Calipjo Go

World Haiku Series 2019 (17)

Haiku by Antonio Calipjo Go

 

The span of Man’s life —-

the seventeen syllables

there are in one haiku

 

人間の寿命 —-

17音節

一つの俳句の中に

 

Picking Flowers for Use in Ikebana

 

Thrice did I attempt……

before your perfect flower

my dagger wavered

 

生け花に使う花の摘み取り

 

三度試みた……

あなたの完璧な花の前で

私の短剣が揺れた

 

By same wind twisted,

both by loneliness made strong —-

wild bonsai and I

 

ねじれた同じ風で

どちらも孤独により強くなった—-

野の盆栽と私

 

Be like the lotus

rising from its bed of mud

impossibly clean

 

蓮のようであれ

泥の床から立ち上がる

信じられないほどきれい

 

My senile mother

Sings for me a lullaby

Puts herself to sleep

 

老齢の母

私のために子守歌を歌う

自ら眠ってしまう

 

The harvest over,

the scarecrow — now like a witch —

is burned at the stake

 

収穫が終わり、

案山子は—今や魔女のように—

火あぶりの刑に処せられる

 

Beware the mantis —-

false solicitude in green

praying for your soul!

 

カマキリに注意しなさい—-

緑の偽りの気遣い

あなたの魂のために祈ります！

 

Heaven may be far

but I need just this teacup

to capture that moon!

 

天は遠いかもしれない

しかし、私にはこのティカップだけが必要です

あの月を捕獲するために！

 

Morning floods the house,

sunlight sequesters the floor

one tile at a time

 

朝が家にあふれ

日光が床を押収する

一度に一つのタイル

 

I wish mine were like

the heart of the banana —-

bleeding only dew!

 

私の心臓が

バナナの心臓のようであればなあ—-

露だけを採っている！

 

— Translated by Hidenori Hiruta

 

 

Dear Sir:

Heeding your invitation to your Haiku Friends —– which is what I am —- I am hereby respectfully submitting to you ten of my original haikus in English.

I wish to share them with the rest of your other Haiku Friends, in the hope that in my own small way I could contribute to world peace and harmony. Haikus and poems represent the highest form of human self-expression.

By sharing part of what we, in our innermost selves, think and feel, we thereby foster brotherhood and understanding among people of different race, color and religion.

Thank you, Sir, for keeping alive the tradition of haiku writing and appreciation.

Sincerely yours,

Antonio Calipjo Go

Academic Supervisor
Marian School of Quezon City
199 Sauyo Road, Novaliches
Quezon City, Philippines
68 Years Old