Haiku by Vladislava Simonova (Ukraine)
＊＊＊
Пишу на песке.
Вновь утащила волна
хайку в дальний путь.
＊＊＊
Writing on the sand –
and again a wave drives my haiku
So far away.
＊＊＊
砂上の句再び波の持ち去れり
Winner of JAL Foundation Award（JAL財団賞) in the Russian section of the 7th Japan-Russia Haiku Contest 2018.
HAIKU to Akita’s “Haiku Beyond Earth”
＊＊＊
Blooming again
every spring I get
a bit older…
この春も花忘れずに咲きにけり花見る私年をとりけり
＊＊＊
Opening the window wide
to let out a single fly,
another flying in
追ひ払ふ窓から入る別の蝿
***
Refugees
Leaving the war,
and the moon flows with them
across the sky…
避難民戦無き空月は友
***
Today I saw
a hundred ukiyo-e prints:
the evening sky
百枚の浮世絵に明け暮れにけり
＊＊＊
Jasmine in full bloom –
petals on the car hood
like reflections…
ジャスミンの花びら落ちるボンネット反射の如き満開の花
＊＊＊
A couple sits close –
blushing more and more deeply
even roses
カップルや近くに座り話し込む顔赤らめる薔薇より深く
＊＊＊
What is war to them?
Night mosquitoes sing along
with the air raid alarm.
戦争は彼らにとって何だろう警報の中夜の蚊が鳴く
＊＊＊
Oh earthworm,
if only you could see
the rainbow in the sky…
おお蚯蚓見れればよいね空の虹
＊＊＊
Writing down a haiku
without turning on the light,
with the full moon shining
俳句書くライトなくても満月で
***
Blackout
The candle burned out,
and I am left all alone
in the empty room…
蝋燭の尽きる空き部屋ただ一人
***
—————————
＊＊＊
Note: Short Japanese Poetry of 17 phonetic Units of 5, 7, 5 Pattern
Inspired by ten English haiku by Vladislava Simonova, Hidenori Hiruta translated them literally into ten Japanese short poems first of all.
As a result, the interpretative Japanese poems of 5, 7, 5 pattern are added to the English haiku as above. Some of them might be haiku（俳句）, and others senryū（川柳).
Surprisingly, four of the English haiku were interpreted into Japanese tanka （短歌） poetry of 5,7,5,7,7 pattern. This is because English is different from Japanese.
Bio:
Vladislava Simonova was born on March 23, 1999 in Kharkiv into a family of a soldier and a teacher. She graduated from art school in the violin class and was interested in writing poetry and photography since her school days.
When she was hospitalized for heart disease at the age of 14, she found a book of Japanese poetry in her room, which prompted her to start writing haiku.
At the age of 18, she won the top prize in the student division of an international haiku contest held in Akita City, Japan.
Since 2019, her haiku have been featured in the Akita International Haiku Network and in the e-journal Serow (Kamoshika).
With the support of the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan, her first haiku collection, 『ウクライナ、地下壕から届いた俳句』 , or Ukraine, Haiku from the Underground Shelter: The Wings of a Butterfly, was published by Shueisha International in August 2023.
In April 2024, her second haiku collection, 『俳句ウクライナから日本へ ２９７歩』, or Haiku: From Ukraine to Japan, 297 Steps, was published by Rekishi Tanbosha in Japan.
Her haiku have been put in various newspapers and online media, including Chunichi Shimbun, Kyodo News, Akita Sakigake Shimpo, Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, San-in Chuo Shimpo, NHK’s ETV Special and so on.
Akita International Haiku Network 
All beautiful 💖