Today’s Haiku (April 3, 2020)

春の水まだ息止めておりにけり　　曾根　毅

haru no mizu mada iki tomete orinikeri

            spring water

            it still holds

            its breath

                                                Tsuyoshi Sone

from “Kashû” (Blossom Study), haiku collection of Takeshi Sone Shinya-Soh sha, Tokyo 2015

Today’s Haiku (April 2, 2020)

夕されば春の雲みつ母の里　　　飯田龍太

yûsareba haru no kumo mitsu haha no sato

            spring clouds fill

            the evening sky

            mother’s homeland

                                                            Ryuta Iida

from “Haiku Dai-Saijiki” (“Comprehensive Haiku Saijiki”), Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, 2006

Fay’s Note: Ryuta Iida  (1920-2007)

Today’s Haiku (April 1, 2020)

いちまいの絹のごとしや春の暮　　　菅原鬨也

ichimai no kinu no gotoshi ya haru no kure

            looking like

            a sheet of satin—

            spring dusk

                                                Tokiya Sugawara

from “Haiku Dai-Saijiki” (“Comprehensive Haiku Saijiki”), Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, 2006

Today’s Haiku (March 31, 2020)

千人針貰ひしときの桜かな　　生田比呂志

senninbari moraishi toki no sakura kana

            when he received

            ‘one thousand stitches’ charm…

            cherry blossoms

                                                Hiroshi Ikuta

from “Haiku Shiki” (“Haiku Four Seasons,” a monthly haiku magazine), December 2017 Issue, Tokyo Shiki Shuppan, Tokyo

Fay’s Note:   ‘senninbari’ (stitches by a thousand people) was a charm given to a soldier during WWII in Japan.  A cotton belt with stitches each sewn by a different woman was considered to protect him.

Today’s Haiku (March 30, 2020)

鳥雲にもう打つ場所のないオセロ           田島健一

tori kumo ni mô utsu basho no nai osero

            birds into clouds

            no more place to cast

            Othello stone

                                                Kenichi Tajima

from “Tadanaranu Po” (Unusual ‘Po’), haiku collection of Kenichi Tajima, Furansu-do, Tokyo 2017

Fay’s Note:  ‘tori kumo ni iru’ (‘birds go into clouds’ – meaning migrating birds return north) is a spring kigo.

Today’s Haiku (March 29, 2020)

桜の夜「今のひと泣いてたよ」とぽつり　　宮崎斗士

sakura no yo ‘ima no hito naitetayo’ to potsuri

            cherry blossom night

            ‘a person who just past us was crying’

            she whispers

                                                Toshi Miyazaki

from “Sonna Ao” (That Kind of Blue), haiku collection of Toshi Miyazaki, Rikka Shorin, Tokyo 2014

Today’s Haiku (March 28, 2020)

竹の秋地中に鏡眠りおり　　曾根　毅

take no aki chichû ni kagami nemuriori

            bamboo in autumn color

            a mirror sleeps

            underground

                                                Tsuyoshi Sone

from “Kashû” (Blossom Study), haiku collection of Tsuyoshi Sone, Shinya-Soh sha, Tokyo 2015

Fay’s Note:  ‘take no aki’ (literal translation: bamboo’s autumn) is a spring kigo.  Bamboo leaves become yellow in spring as leaves change colors in autumn.