Author Topic: Japanese haiku...you'll see  (Read 2180 times)

Offline Companyofmen

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Japanese haiku...you'll see
« on: November 30, 2006, 05:59:43 pm »
Thse are a collection, translated by Peter Beilenson and Harry Stein. There are many more. I have changed a word, here and there.

Snow whispering down
all night long
earth has vanished
leaving only sky

when the autumn wind
scatters peonies,
a few
fall in pairs

a nightbird calls
and suddenly...
the whole clearing
lighted by moonbeams

having spoken ill
my lips now
feel the cold
of late autumn wind

no wonder today
the men need afternoon
naps...
o that summer moon!

the still snow we
watched...has it
covered the same hill
again this winter?

under a summer sun
ice and water
forget
their old difference...

nightbird, did you cry
to frighten away
my mother
watching in my dream?

pine trees silhouette
painted by the
summer moon
on a shining sky

everything I touch
with tenderness
alas
prickles like a bramble

thinking  comfortable
thoughts
with a friend in silence
in the cool evening...

where does he wander now
I wonder,
my little one,
hunting dragons?

our horses clip-cloping
over flowers
oh!
we're part of the picture

beyond distant walls
voices of women
whisper
about the bright moon

it's nice to read
news that our
spring rain also
visited your town

there squats  a beggar
naked
excet for his robes
of heaven and earth

the best I have
to offer you
is the small size
of the mosquitoes

what does this mean?
chrysanthemums
and jonquils
blooming together!

nightbird, if you must,
cry to the moon
not to me..
I've heard your story

small bird forgive me,
I'll hear the end
of your song
in some other world

you fleas seem to find
the night as long
as I do.
are you lonely too?

enviable leaves,
becoming
so beautiful
just before falling...

I'm  sorry
to have to die
at this time
with the dogwood in bloom


                              (twistedude)
« Last Edit: November 30, 2006, 06:38:22 pm by Companyofmen »
Reporter to Gandhi: What do you think of western civilization?
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