Buson had once written sekirei no/ o ya Hashidate wo/ ato nimotsu
Tail of a wagtail—
Left behind in Hashidate
My luggage
…………. (trans. Makoto Ueda)
Today, I walked the same strand as he had done one quarter of a millennium before and found myself humming
Before a sea of Prussian blue
Hips of the wild rose …
…………. (Amanohashidate, 23.7.14)
.
From the bus stop
Still a long, long way to go—
Summer groves.
Toshi Ida’s new book has just been delivered from the printers! It is a solo English haiku collection, complete with Japanese versions, divided into four seasonal sections. There are also many nice haiga illustrations and photos (by the author himself), and a series of ten haibun pieces at the back of the book. The title of the book alludes to a lament by Wordsworth, “Plain living and high thinking are no more”, but also to the natural bird-like ‘singing’ of the author’s heart as he lives the haiku ethic every day. The book’s subtitle is ‘Haiku Scenes’. This is the first individual collection published by the Hailstone Haiku Circle. Congratulations to Toshi!
￥860 (U.S.$ 8) + p&p. The book will soon be available at Hailstone events, or in the post via Mari Kawaguchi (domestic) and Hisashi Miyazaki (international). Contact details are given on our Publications page (via the page link at top right).
click on the image to magnify and read the haiku
