Haiku beyond Earth「天上俳句会」Haiku by Mariya Gusev  

Haiku by Mariya Gusev (USA)

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unbearable heat

the garden azaleas

flaming at the root

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庭つつじ燃えるが如き炎暑かな

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HAIKU and PHOTOS to Akita’s “Haiku Beyond Earth”

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never a straight line

the quickest way to the bay

known by the snowmelt

曲折の湾への道の最速は雪解け水に敵うもの無し

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distant thunderstorm

breaking open the darkness

without any sound 

遠雷雨暗闇破る音も無く

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magnolia blossoms

everything from everywhere

comes to rest in these

マグノリア十方の人憩ひけり

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covered city bench

under its roof, bumblebees 

claim the only shade

市のベンチ人影は無しブンブンとマルハナバチが日陰占領

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emerging grasses

the earth growing out her hair

for someone to touch

草生える地球の髪や人を待つ

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a sea of flowers 

tuning into that one voice

radio tulip

花の海声一斉にチューリップ

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unbearable heat

the garden azaleas 

flaming at the root

庭つつじ燃えるが如き炎暑かな

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the kinship of trees

both company and shelter 

in any weather 

木々親し身を隠したり遊んだり

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two women embrace

a mother helps her daughter 

out of a wheelchair 

抱え合う二人の女性母親が車椅子から娘を降ろす

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connecting the sky

with the tree branches below

a tiny spider

空と枝小さな蜘蛛が繋ぎけり

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sitting with the wind

a late summer butterfly 

quivers on a leaf

(The Heron’s Nest, June 2024 Issue)

葉に止まり晩夏の風に揺れる蝶

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Note: Short Japanese Poetry of 17 phonetic Units of 5, 7, 5 Pattern

Inspired by 11 English haiku by Mariya Gusev, Hidenori Hiruta translated them literally into Japanese short poems first of all.

As a result, eight 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). 

And three of the English haiku are interpreted into Japanese tanka（短歌）poems of 5,7,5,7,7 pattern.

This is because English is different from Japanese. 

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Bio:

Mariya Gusev is an editor, translator, educator, and writer, based in the DC area.

She co-directs the International Literary Seminars, is one of the founding editors of the St. Petersburg Review, and is a board member at Springhouse Journal.

Her translations have recently appeared in PEN International, on Literalab, and in ROAR Review.

Her poetry has appeared in The Heron’s Nest, The Mainichi, Wales Haiku Journal, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Failed Haiku, Trash Panda, The Asahi Shimbun, the Kyoto Haiku Project, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku invitational, on the California Urban Forests site, and others.

She enjoys writing haiku commentaries as guest editor for Clark Strand’s Weekly Haiku Challenges online, and is at work on a poetry collection.