H  A  I  K  U     S  P  I  R  I  T
Hailstones

A haiku chapbook
Edited by Stephen Henry Gill


 



Sternly majestic –
The sound of hailstones
Striking my cypress hat.


Basho




Under the boots
of marching soldiers
sparkle of new-green grass




Children
reading quietly:
the first night
the carpet is spread


KEIKO YURUGI




Bright moon in the sky –
I go out to throw away
The gloom of my heart


NOBUYUKI YUASA




In The pine-dark hills
Beyond the river blooms
One brilliant lilac


JANE WIEMAN




A white egret
has alighted
on the tall pine –
a fresh determination


KAZUMI TSUTSUMI




fragrance of incense floating:
my firm steps on the stones


AKIKO TANABE




Bamboo swaying wildly
Against white clouds –
The tiny red kite


TERUKO TAKAHASHI




Passing by the Milky Way
its red light twinkling –
night flight unknown


YOSHIHIKO SUZUKI




spring snow falls –
melting on the shoulder
of the carpenter back from work


MICHIKO SUZUKI




on a red maple leaf, a ladybug;
what season is this?


RICHARD STEINER




The moon appears –
a gentle breeze prising open
the heads of pampas grass


MIZUHO SHIBUYA




A gust of wind –
cherry petals follow me…
right to my office desk


MAYUMI SAKAKIBARA




To put in writing
on a white page
more white mountains


SAYOKO OZAKI




a lullaby aroma
from the well-starched sheets –
far away,
spring thunder


NICO




Autumn moon…
occasionally illuminating
the dark river of my town




The crows are perched
on leafless branches –
how cold the hail!


AKITO MORI




between the old year
and the new –
one drip of tap-water


HISASHI MIYAZAKI




In reddening fields
A plover stands sentinel,
Head into the wind.


KAMOME




The rainbow is gone –
One black kite wheeling
This way and that


TOSHI IDA




back from daughter's home,
a deep breath under
chestnuts blossoms


REIKO HAYAHARA




From Arashiyama –
The train carrying a faint smell
Of summer grasses


AKEMI HAMADA




Early spring –
on the hill encountering
a glittering ray


KEI GOTO




Before I knew it,
The field was covered over
Wholly with hailstones


Nobuyuki Yuasa

 


 

Note on Hailstones

 
Collection of haiku by the Hailstone Haiku Circle, a group of friends that has emerged from Stephen Henry Gill's lecturing work over the past five years for Ritsumeikan University, the Yomiuri Culture Center and Kansai Seminar House.

Available: $7; Michio Sano, 1-55 Kyuhoen, Yao-shi, Osaka 581-0817




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