World Haiku Series 2021 (37) Haiku by 石渡みずき (Mizuki Ishiwatari)

灼熱を生き延びた枯木を誇りに思う

　Bare branches 
       Never beaten by the burning sun
       Their survival worth admiring


いずれ溶ける雪を何故掻く？　
―この瞬間のために

　Shoveling snow this high
       That is
       For a moment’s living 


山は遠く　微かな灰と青の影

　Shades of gray and blue
       Mountains look so faint
       Standing still in the distance


父との思い出　母は宝石箱に 

　Precious times 
       Of her married life 
       Mother’s jewelry box


アスファルトに雪　冬将軍の到来

　Snow softly covers
       Asphalt roads
       Winter starts to conquer 
   

光跳ねて　水鳥または風の跡

  The shimmering sun
       Is it in ducks’ wake 
       Or the wind’s blow?
 

屋敷森の守り
厳（おごそ）かに　近衛兵のごと

　A private wood 
       Handsomely protecting the property
       Like the Royal Guard 


雪道に行き交う跡の忙（せわ）しなき

　Footprints 
       One winter day
       A dog and its keeper along the path
  

おぼろげに将来を憂う姉　夏至のころ

   Sister’s worries 
       Of future’s uncertainty
       The Summer Solstice


鈍色（にびいろ）の空　見上げる窓に雨

　Tapping of rain 
         On a high windowpane
         Between the gray winter sky and me

About me:

 I live in Akita, a snowy district in northern Japan.  
This is my second joining in the World Haiku Series.  
I am a slow writer, and here I submit all of my haiku written in 2021.   
I feel that haiku is like a box of watercolor paints, with which I can copy flower petals in early summer or monochrome view of severe winter.  
This year, my haiku are mostly about long, quiet winter and some portraits of my family. 

Here are three photos presented by Ms. Mizuki Ishiwatari.