Early spring morn —
again, that pair of silent crows
atop the old pine
A black caterpillar
eating a big taro leaf —
the long dry spell …………………………. (Yoshiharu Kondo)
Wandering at night
I see my father’s face in
an old cobblestone.
A lonely thatched hut
two poets shared—one leaving,
one staying behind. …………………………………. (Maria Lin)
The smell of honeysuckle …
the night lights up
with first lightning bolts ……………………. (Julia Guzman)
Late afternoon, 21 July 2018. A dozen Hailstones fell together for a reading in the Museum of Kyoto’s Maeda Café, which used to be a vault of the Bank of Japan, Kyoto branch. At a long table, we took it in turns to read our own, or others’, haibun or haiku sequences.
The programme was:
Branko Manojlovic, 2018 Genjuan GP haibun The Forbidden Pet
Ursula Maierl, haiku Mantis Yoga (from Lost Heian) & sequence Aftershock
Eiko Mori reading David McCullough’s 2018 Genjuan HM haibun Reflections
Mayumi Kawaharada reading Doris Lynch’s 2017 Genjuan GP haibun Season of Snow & Milk
Ayako Kurokawa, haibun Boomerang in the Blue Sky
Hitomi Suzuki, haibun Lanterns on the Water
Kazue Gill reading Tito’s haibun A Scottish Journey
Tito, haiku sequence Roller Coaster (using work by 15 poets; see previous posting)
Four others were present, but did not read.
Evening. After the Café meet was over, most participants went for a short ginko (composition stroll) to enjoy the spectacle of the huge festival yama and hoko floats parked in the nearby streets and lit with tiers of lanterns. Some private houses had opened their windows and doors so that all could see the treasures inside. There were several small shrines to visit down narrow alleys. The Gion Ato-matsuri proved much less busy than the main Saki-matsuri and therefore more conducive to haiku-senryu composition! Many people wore yukata.
A small sample of the verse that emerged:
Innocent girls chant
a song about their folk talismans –
Gion Festival eve ……….. (Hitomi)
Divine emissaries*
watching over the Festival crowds –
that pair of turtle doves ……….. (Mayumi)
Flute players tonight
nearly two stories high
on the deck* of an ancient float (Duro)
Exploding
earth sensation
of the taro* in my mouth –
a dinner with friends .. (Tito)
.
* emissaries, 使い tsukai messengers of the warriors’ god, Hachiman
* deck, 大船鉾 ofuna-boko boat-shaped float
* taro, 里芋 sato-imo potato variety
The Kansai region of Western Japan was hit by a damaging earthquake (mag. 5.5) on 18 June, then by a monsoon-ending deluge on 5-7 July, and has been gripped by a severe heatwave ever since. 19 July saw 40 degrees C in Kyoto. The only respite in temperature was the typhoon of 28-29 July, which was cruel in its own way. I compiled a haiku sequence from recent work by 15 Hailstone poets in order to commemorate the fearsome summer we have had so far. You’ll see that haiku poets find ways to ‘coast’ between the ‘rolls’. (SHG)
QUAKE (4)
morning birdsong
in the monsoon garden:
epicentre
right beneath my pillow! Hisashi
35 floors up
an earthquake rocks
and rumbles –
it clutches my heart Sydney
summer earthquake –
ground spangled with glass,
sky full of stars Mizuho
after the tremor
healing my unease,
the fragrant white gardenia Hiroko
RAINS (9)
broken muzzles
of the shrine’s stone foxes –
the rainy season returns Yaeno
gray rain-screen,
a fear of floods …
yet a kingfisher
blesses the pond Teruko
endless rain –
in our entrance hall
a large garden spider
now resides! Tito
to this land of
green ears of rice,
the Thunder God’s
long siege Hitomi
helicopter hovering
by people on a rooftop –
never-ending rain Kyoko
a village
obliterated by the rains –
a cicada’s chant Mayumi K.
the rain eases …
along a path between paddies
coloured umbrellas move Takashi
jumping into the puddle
with his tiny boots on
the wrong feet –
the rains let up Hisako
monsoon away –
new sunlight on the girl
in the red coupé Akira
HEAT (6)
leaving for work –
the heatwave,
no longer air at all
but wall Tito
crimson coins of blood
on the bike park floor:
the heatstruck lad
clasps his nose Ursula
on the fence
two turtledoves out of breath …
sagging grasses Branko
fierce sunlight –
a bitter gourd hanging down
like Godzilla’s tail ………………………………………….. Mayumi S.
the brook at my feet
murmuring away heat –
the mountain peak ahead Akira
the sun beat down …
but, slowly now, enjoying
the long night wine Hiroko
white butterfly
on a dandelion –
praying hands
Joanna M. Weston
****************
at the well
between letting the stone go
and splash
Diarmuid Fitzgerald
***************
summer ending
the quiet face of the moon
at sunset
Duro Jaiye
***************
鷹一つ見つけてうれし伊良湖岬 (芭蕉)
To find a hawk
flying at Cape Irago —
my pleasure, deep
……………… (Basho)
On his 1687 Backpack Notes journey, 笈の小文, Basho had composed this haiku for his beloved disciple, Tokoku 杜国 (aka Mangikumaru 万菊丸), who was exiled in Hobi, near the tip of the Atsumi Peninsular (Aichi) for ‘cooking the books’ with his rice-dealing in Nagoya.
July 23: Tito plans to fly his birthday balloon (a personal ritual) from the ferry leaving Cape Irago after a day (with wife, Kazue, and Hailstone friends, David McCullough and Gerald Staggers – aka Duro Jaiye) visiting Tokoku’s grave at Cho’onji Temple (the “tide-listening” temple) in Hobi and then swimming in the Pacific at Koijigahama Beach.
Leave Kyoto/Osaka early for Toba in Mie, from where we sail across the sea to that erstwhile place of exile.
The ferry departs
through a flotilla of jellyfish —
summer clouds
……………… (Tito)
Landing at Cape Irago, walk out to the lighthouse with its views back to the sacred isle of Kamishima.
all along the seafront
stone carved poems
visited by dragonflies
……………… (David)
midday heat …
in their wheelbarrow
the catch of the day
……………… (Duro)
Indulge, as Basho would have done, in huge clams and oysters at Tamagawa’s in Fukue. Then, at the temple itself, we meet the Zen priest, Miyamoto Rikan 利寛, tending his lotuses. Spend a quiet moment at the graveside, remembering how Basho had wept at the House of Fallen Persimmons after dreaming of Tokoku some months after his premature death. Their relationship had been a happy one, with Basho once brushing the ‘shape’ of Tokoku’s snore onto paper… and them having written pledges together on their travel hats on the way to Yoshino. “His good heart reached to the very core of my own. How could I ever forget him?” (from the Saga Nikki)
波音の墓のひそかにも
the sound of the waves
also heard in secret
from his grave
……………… (Santoka, visiting Cho’onji in 1939)
last patch of summer heat —
cat tails flicking
back and forth
……………… (David)
burning heat …
he waters the small plants
in the rock garden
……………… (Duro)
Rikan proves a genial host, showing us a huge rockery he has made himself; also, the “tide-listening” Kannon statue in the pond at the back of the temple; and, finally, driving us back to Koijigahama Beach near the Cape. Body-surfing and beach-combing before boarding the return ferry.
A pink balloon
leaves my hand …
the sun, too, dropping down
into Ise Bay
……………… (Tito)
May 20, 2017 (please see the preceding post, “Spring at the Edge”)
A clear sky …
sprouting green leaves
breathe with us (Akito)
The sound of ice
being dropped into a glass (Tito)
Beside the hot train tracks
the old man mutters
“Don’t hog the shade!’ (Richard)
Three rivers join and flow –
Hideyoshi’s proud pagoda (Eiko)
Only the red roof left,
the museum returning
to nature’s green (Hiroko)
Birdsong carried
by stream ripples (Akira)
At Takara Temple
recalling Soseki –
an early summer breeze (Teruko)
Distilled on Mt. Tenno
“Angel’s Share” (Kyoko)
The girl counts out
twelve visitor cards at reception –
cool interior (Hisashi)
Reflections
in the western window (Kayo)
A black swallowtail
visits the Siberian irises –
afternoon heat (Eiko)
Until the liquid turns amber
long way to go (Noriko)
Enma and his fierce men:
heaped before them
fruits, jellies, just desserts (Eiko)
Slippery on this steep slope
pilgrims’ straw sandals (Noriko)
A mayfly lands
on my handlebars –
the luminous day (Tito)
Ed. by Hisashi Miyazaki and Richard Donovan
