Haiku by Zdenka Mlinar (Croatia)
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nest
without young birds
war colors
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幼鳥の見えぬ鳥の巣戦時色
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HAIKU to Akita’s “Haiku Beyond Earth”
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a plastic
in the gut of the fish
fisherman’s tears
割いて見る魚の腸内プラスチック漁師はしばし涙を流す
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nest
without young birds
war colors
幼鳥の見えぬ鳥の巣戦時色
***
snails
the boy sells them
for a pittance
蝸牛売る少年や小銭得る
***
wind dance
and sea waves
painterly desire
風の舞う海のさざ波絵の如し
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sun and sea
in her hair
photo moment
海の青彼女の髪に太陽の光輝きシャッターチャンス
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music
in the treehouse
water source
水源やツリーハウスの音楽に
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forest
of our childhood
mushroom to mushroom
幼少の森の想い出茸狩
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young fruits
on old olive trees
fire
オリーブの古木の幼果火の如し
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village joy
under the old linden tree
Ivan’s Day
村祝う古き菩提樹イワンの日
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dry branches
on the woman’s back
the fire of life
枯枝や女の背中に命の火
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Note: Short Japanese Poetry of 17 phonetic Units of 5, 7, 5 Pattern
Inspired by ten English haiku by Zdenka Mlinar, 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.
Biography:
Zdenka Mlinar lives and creates in Velika Gorica and Zagreb, writing poetry, prose, reviews, and short texts (miniature lyrics, aphorisms, haiku, etc.).
She has published ten solo poetry collections and is a member of several literary societies and associations.
She writes in the Croatian standard language, English, and occasionally ventures into writing in Croatian dialects.
Her work is included in the Lexicon of Contemporary Writers from Velika Gorica (2006) and the Turopolje Lexicon (2021).
Her works have been published in more than 200 domestic and international anthologies, collections, and journals. For her work, she has received numerous awards, recognitions, commendations, acknowledgments, trophies, and medals.
Her haiku poems are featured in the bilingual anthology of Croatian haiku poetry “Unmown Sky 2” (2008–2018), in the New Anthology “Contemporary Croatian Haiku” (2023), in “Kajkavski Haiku,” an anthology of Croatian haiku poetry in the Kajkavian dialect (1977–2023), as well as in two World Gogyoshi anthologies.
She is listed in the world register of The Haiku Foundation and has been among the TOP 100 haiku poets in Europe for five consecutive years.
She is proud of her appointments as an ambassador of peace by the Italian Cultural Association “VerbumlandiArt” and the European Institute for Roma Studies and Research, as well as the Association of Roma Writers in Belgrade.
Her two trilingual haiku poetry books are housed in the Croatian Language Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, the Croatian Embassy in Tokyo, and the Japanese Embassy in Croatia. She has also participated in projects such as the creation of the “Hyperpoem,” which is included in the Guinness Book of Records, and the Anthem of World Poetry.
She is the literary editor and founder of the Zagreb Literary Club “Ilija Kozić Ladin” and the corresponding Facebook group, through which, in honor of the great Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet, she organizes poetic events with its members.
Her poems have been translated into several foreign languages, and some have even been set to music. She is also an active participant in many art colonies and other humanitarian engagements.
Akita International Haiku Network 