Today’s Haiku (March 31, 2010)

Posted on March 31, 2010 | 5 Comments

春霞菩薩は象に乗りたまひ　　　上野一考

haru-gasumi bosatsu wa zô ni noritamai

spring mist

a Buddhist deity rides

an elephant

Ikko Ueno

from “Gendai Haiku No Kanshõ 101” (Modern Haiku Appreciation 101) edited by Kai Hasegawa, Shinshokan, Tokyo 2001

Maark Brooks, a good friend of mine and a fantastic poet suggested, I may use ‘bodhisattva’ instead of “a Buddhist deity.’

I wondered how many people understand ‘bodhisattva.’     BUT I should trust readers more….

spring mist
the bodhisattva rides
an elephant

This entry was posted in Haiku, Haiku Translation: Today's Haiku and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

5 responses to “Today’s Haiku (March 31, 2010)”

  1. Willie | March 31, 2010 at 4:06 pm | Reply

    I like the “feel” of bodhisattva, the prosody, if you will.
    Perhaps with the indefinate article ‘a’?
    Maybe that conflicts with ‘an’…

  2. Michael Nickels-Wisdom | April 1, 2010 at 3:19 pm | Reply

    I, too, like the use of “bodhisattva”. It has connotations in the English-speaking world brought to us by the beat writers, so is not so very unfamiliar. Also, I think the matter of which article to use before “bodhisattva” depends on the background of the haiku. Is a *particular* bodhisattva meant, or just any nonspecific one? If particular, then “the” seems appropriate; otherwise, “a” would be fine, and might even spring the poem open to a variety of meanings. Thank you for presenting us with this haiku.

  3. Gabi Greve | April 4, 2010 at 7:21 am | Reply

    Hi Fay,

    Fugen Bosatsu usually rides the elephant.
    http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/fugen.shtml

    Thanks for introducing this haiku !!

    Gabi from Okayama

Leave a comment