Here are 50 senryu in a senryu anthology “A moment of a Cute Carelessness” , 川柳句集「素敵な油断」by Hasegawa Suigetsu (長谷川酔月).
And here are English translations of them by Hiroshi Sugawara (菅原浩).
夫婦別姓芝生のイスが白すぎる
Separate surnames!
The chair on the grass
Too white.
子を避暑に送り出してる火の車
Sending a child
To a summer resort
On a very tight budget.
限界をとうに超えてる妻のムチ
The wife’s whip
Already
Beyond the limits.
背後霊がきてボーナスを明け渡す
A guardian spirit coming,
Required to give her
The bonus.
免税というから狂い出す財布
Because of tax-free,
Accidently loosening
The purse strings.
家中がサーカス飛んでくる妻子
My family are all circus.
My wife and children
Come flying.
他意などはないと言い張るのし袋
The Noshi:
Insisting on not having
Any other intentions.
百均を抜けて安定期に入る
Coming out of 100-yen shop,
The economic situation
Becoming stable.
タンポポが風に乗る性善説の地図
Dandelion carried on the wind,
The map based on a doctrine:
Humans by nature good.
疑いを知らぬつぶらな瞳が怖い
Alarmed by
Cute round eyes
With no suspicion.
便り絶え都会で熟れていくりんご
Losing the contact with her home,
Apples are ripening
In the city.
裏山でガキ大将が雲にのる
At the mountain behind his home
The leader of the kids,
Getting on the clouds.
兄ちゃんに逢うブランコをしきりに漕ぐ
Hoping to meet a brother,
I get on a swing
Repeatedly.
赤とんぼ秋の音符を解き放つ
Red dragonflies
Release a musical note
In fall.
サーカスのポスターに嗅ぐ父の肩
Sniffing at the circus poster,
I wonder if it is
Father’s shoulder.
無表情な野良犬がきてほっとする
An expressionless,
Stray dog coming,
I felt relieved.
草笛の真っただ中で父と逢う
In the middle of
The sound of grass whistle,
I meet my father.
黄揚羽の軽さで愛がきて停まる
Like a light swallowtail,
Love comes flying
And stops.
文字間の愛をさがして神無月
Searching for love
Between the lines,
October.
折鶴をひとつ飛ばして恋終わる
Letting a folded
Paper crane flying,
The love ended.
振り向けば振り向いている過去の人
Looking back at
The person of the past,
She turns around me.
風花が粋な別れに付いてくる
Snowflakes
Coming with
A smart parting.
ドラマよりひどい男は俺だろう
Bad people appear
In the drama, but
I am worse.
暗闇でネコもわたしも冴えている
My cat and I
Are so sharp
In the dark.
蛇行して河なにごともなく流れ
The river winds
Lazily as if
Nothing happened.
嘲笑うカラスがいつも視野にいる
I always capture
A crow scoffing at me
In my field of view.
冬木立ちあれは頑固な父の背な
Winter grove!
That is a stubborn
Father’s shoulder.
転勤に慣れて身軽なカタツムリ
The snails
Getting used to a transfer,
Are footloose.
ドアで待つ猫に仮面を外される
At the door
The cat is waiting
And I throw off my mask.
布団干す幸せそうな貌をして
Airing out the futon,
She looks like
A happy person.
留守電で田舎の父が吠えている
On the answering machine
My father is yelling
In the country.
りんご剥く手から独身主義くずれ
The principle of a single life
Falls from the hands
Of peeling an apple.
いつだって男は芯を摘みたがる
Always
Men are inclined to
Removed the core.
秘め事をあかるく弾くシャワーの湯
The water of a shower
Repel a secret
Cheerfully.
茶漬け食う男の愛がまだ読めぬ
The man having chazuke
Can’t understand
The mind of love yet.
深読みのタクトはやはり妻が振る
The wife conducts
A baton of a deep insight
As I expected.
値踏みした猫が結局妻に向く
The cat evaluating,
Takes sides with a wife
In the end.
嫉妬かもしれぬ男の花粉症
Men’s having pollen allergy,
Perhaps out of
Jealousy.
百叩きしようか意味のない笑い
I’ll hit
Over and over again
The meaningless laugh.
ガブリ噛むりんごの味にある未練
Biting an apple
With the mouth wide open,
The apple tastes of regrets.
友から妻へ三十八度線こえる
Crossing the 38th parallel,
She changed
From a friend to a wife.
頭を下げた母の背中に裁かれる
Judged by
Mother’s bowing
And her back.
ウマの骨ほめて春雷鳴りやまず
Admiring someone
You really don’t know,
The spring thunder roars.
ひざ上で不埒な猫が目をつむる
On its owner’s lap
The offensive cat
Closing the eyes.
きずなへの祈りをだいて乗る電車
Saying a prayer
For family ties,
Getting on a train.
みどり児がつかむ旅立ちの風だよ
A newborn baby,
Catching the wind of
Departure.
嬉しさを隠そうとする父の下駄
My father wearing geta,
Tries to suppress
His joy.
しあわせを絵に描く父の高いびき
Father snores loudly;
The incarnation of
Happiness.
よさそうだ無心にカニを食う嫁で
The bride,
Eating a crab innocently,
Seem to be nice.
片付けて何か淋しい母の背な
Putting the room in order,
Somehow mother’s shoulder
Feel lonely.
By Hidenori Hiruta
