H
A I K U S P
I R I T
Haiku
by Japanese Women
FROM:
HAIKU BY JAPANESE WOMEN
Compiled and Translated by MAKOTO UEDA
ISBN
IMPORTANT
let us start picking --
don't drop herbs from your basket
or anything else!
Den Sutejo
a bamboo bud
breaking out of its layered sheath
a warrior in arms!
Kawai Chigetsu
one step outside
the temple gate, it's Japan --
a tea-picker's song
Tagami Kikusha
sewing in the lamplight
I teach spelling to my child --
autumn rain
Sugita Hisajo
the more callouses
the more brightly
my ring sparkles
Takeshita Shizunojo
chapped hands
and no rice -- I weep
with a monkey's face
Ishibashi Hideno (1947)
the woman at high noon
untiringly watches
a distant fire
Katsura Nobuko
climb this tree
and you'll be a she-devil
red leaves in the sunset
glow up on a hydro pole
the electrician turns
into a cicada
Mitsuhashi Takajo
on the skin of a woman
who has never conceived
hot autumn sun
on the scale
my bathed and steaming body
this night of snow
Katsura Nobuko
the dead grass--
life lies dormant
on the face of the earth
losing my way
is part of the journey --
poppy flower
Inahata Teiko
as if mending
socks, I repair my mind
and live on
like a ninja
a crow on the paddy
always alone
Yoshino Yoshiko
a scrap of iron--
without fail, menfolk
stop to look
Uda Kiyokoa
shooting star --
in love with someone, not knowing
where it will lead me
Mayuzumi Madoka