World Haiku Series 2021 (62) Haiku by Priscilla Lignori

Leaving the blossom

with his pockets full of gold—

furry bumblebee

Eastern Structures No.19

花を離れる

ポケットは金でいっぱい

毛皮のようなマルハナバチ

acorn on my palm

the life of a mighty oak

flashes before me

The 2019 Kiyoshi & Kiyoko Tokutomi Memorial Haiku Contest, First Place 

手のひらにどんぐり

すばらしいオークの命

私の前できらりと光る

Low tide at the beach —

a snail comes out of its shell

on granddaughter’s palm

Ko Magazine, 2018 Spring-Summer

ビーチでの干潮

カタツムリが殻から出てくる

孫娘の手のひらに

only when it’s safe 

the snail comes out of its shell—

life in quarantine

World Haiku Review, Autumn 2020 

安全なときだけ

カタツムリはその殻から出てくる

検疫での生活

Readying for bed — 

one last glance out the window 

at the wind-blown snow 

Ko Magazine, 2015 Autumn-Winter

ベッドの準備

最後に窓の外を一瞥

風に吹かれた雪を

Sunday worship

cicada break into song

throughout the village

The Mainichi, September 15, 2020 

日曜日の礼拝

蝉が歌に割り込む

村中

Unpublished Haiku:

The black swallowtail —

carries itself so lightly

with its sunlit wings

メスクロキアゲハ

とても身軽

太陽に照らされた翼で

November’s full moon 

shows us how to rise above 

a sea of dark clouds 

11月の満月

上に登る方法を示す

暗い雲海の上に

Late morning drizzle— 

sprinkling cinnamon on the 

homemade applesauce

遅い朝の霧雨

シナモンを振りかける

自家製アップルソースに

Christmas snow globe 

children take turns shaking up

the world inside it

クリスマスのスノードーム

子供たちが交代で揺り動かす

その中の世界を

― Translated into Japanese by Hidenori Hiruta

BIO:

Priscilla Lignori is a haiku poet and a psychotherapist in private practice. 
She is the recipient of numerous international awards for haiku poetry including the 2013 Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest, the 2018 Akita International University President’s Award of the 6th Japan-Russia Haiku Contest, and the 2016, 2018 and 2019 Kiyoshi and Kiyoko Tokutomi Memorial Haiku Contest. 
The founder of Hudson Valley Haiku-kai, a haiku group that meets monthly to share and discuss their haiku, she has published one book of haiku poetry, Beak Open, Feet Relaxed: 108 Haiku.