Friday, March 31, 2006

after all that complaining;
another cold
spring
day



duro jaiye

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Does someone know...

The other day I was asked how to read a haiku of Lafcadio Hearn;

Nadeshiko ni
Chocho shiroshi
Tare no kon?

It is the haiku that Hearn published in 1915.
I haven't checked the original Japanese.
As for "kon", it means "soul". So my friend wonders it might be better to be read "tama" of tamashii=soul instead of kon.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

intermittent snowー
my son adds a plum blossom
to his collection



duro jaiye
Equinox Blues

on the calendar it's spring; but the nip of winter is still in the air. my gloves and mufflers remain on call, i still need a hat to keep my bald head warm, and i still find myself walking with some sort of urgencyーeven for that short stroll to get a bottle of beer or a sweet snack.

plum blooming in the flower pot night rain



duro jaiye

Monday, March 20, 2006

Mount Ogura Is Shedding Tears Part VII

The 小倉山が泣いている event on 12 March went well in spite of drizzle. There were three rendezvous, and all together about 20 people came. Some collected rubbish, others wrote poems, a few did both. If you haven't yet sent Stephen your poems, quickly please! The tea/beer party at Tree of Repose went on until 7. If you wish to help the project this year (rubbish clearing, felling dead pines, writing poetry, etc.), contact Okiharu Maeda of ACE, the supporting NPO aceokiharu@yahoo.co.jp in Eng/Jap. ACE won an Encouragement Prize in December for the Ogura project at the annual Osaka NPO Awards. Here are a few of the poems collected from the day ...


谷風に乗り手冬は去りにけり
Wind in the valley - / Its passenger, winter / Departs.
(Zen'ichiro Nakamura)
spring mist - / at the once barren summit / trees this high
(duro jaiye)
High, high above the river / A broken television / Flies into space.
(David McCullough)
Train crosses a bridge, / Enters a tunnel - / Once more / The winter rapids sound.
(Tito)

Thursday, March 16, 2006

spring?

nowhere to go
this evening
white plum buds

Thursday, March 02, 2006

What a trip

Tho Kyoto remains cold as a witch's titmouse caught in a snowbank, here is a promising hint of the near future:

breaking over kami's treetops,
spring trips into my
still sleeping garden

Kami refers to Shimogamo Shrine, which we live just behind.