Today’s Haiku (March 4, 2016)

蛤となるべく余念なき雀　　　三田きえ子

hamaguri to naru beku yonen naki suzume

              busy becoming

              a clam…

              a sparrow

                                          Kieko Mita

from “Haiku Shiki” (“Haiku Four Seasons,” a monthly haiku magazine), August 2010 Issue, Tokyo Shiki Shuppan, Tokyo

Fay’s Note: ‘suzume kaichû ni iri haguri to naru’ (a sparrow enters the sea and becomes a clam) is a spring kigo.   The ancient people wondered why the population of sparrows did not become large.  Conclusion was that sparrow might have entered the sea and changed themselves into clams.