Haiku by Lakshmi Iyer (India)
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Earth Day
mastering the art
of declutter
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地球の日断捨離の術習いけり
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HAIKU to Akita’s “Haiku Beyond Earth”
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rearranging flower pots
the earthworms
wriggle their spots
植木鉢蚯蚓現る配置換え
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taking a picture
of the baby
next to yellow ixora
a dragonfly pauses
赤ちゃんの写真撮影隣には黄色いイクソラ蜻蛉が止まる
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Earth Day
mastering the art
of declutter
地球の日断捨離の術習いけり
**
breastfeeding . . .
a tiny white butterfly
on a pink petunia
授乳中小さき白蝶ペチュニアに
**
threatening rain
God knows
how the crows
returned home
雨模様烏の帰路は神ぞ知る
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steady and straight rain
an umbrella drips
exclamation marks
続く雨傘滴らす感嘆符
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winter begins
our dried clothes smell
of woodsmoke
立冬や衣服の匂い木の煙
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scattered light
in the rainbow drops
a baby giggles
虹色の雫に散りし光見てくすくす笑う赤ちゃんがいる
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cooing pigeons
in the dry bird bath
empty water bottles
鳩の鳴く乾いた水場空の瓶
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fresh lotus pond
a water strider
dips dimples
水馬や笑窪を浸す蓮の池
**
Note: Short Japanese Poetry of 17 phonetic Units of 5, 7, 5 Pattern
Inspired by ten English haiku by Lakshmi Iyer, Hidenori Hiruta translated them literally into ten 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. They might be haiku（俳句）or senryū（川柳).
And two 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.
Bio:
Lakshmi Iyer likes to live in the breath of words and sounds that speak of her observations, experiences and inner silences.
She is the co-editor of ‘amber i pause’.
Her interview, ‘New to Haiku:Advice to Beginners’ by The Haiku Foundation can be read here.
She had her palette of 31 Indian poets sharing their poems in the recent August Per Diem of The Haiku Foundation here.
Her collection of poems is portrayed in April 2024 in Mann’s Library Mann Library’s Daily Haiku.
She was the guest editor of Summer Haiku Girl from August 19 – 25, 2024.
Akita International Haiku Network 