Haiku in English(7)

(photo) red flowers at the window, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan


Memories of sea
now have another master―
pearl necklace pawned

Clelia Ifrim
Bucharest, Romania

■The phrase memories of sea is beautiful. I think it means the author's memories and the pearl's. The pearl necklace that is memories both of her and sea have to have another master- pawnbroker. Did he feel guilty at robbing her of the treasure called memories?

Haiku in English(6)

(photo) red flowers, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan

nothing
to show for today
cassiopeia

John Martone
IL, U.S.A

■I feel vanity but this vanity means tiny thing because the author uses the word cassiopeia. Every human behavior is tiny bofore the great universe.

Haiku in English(5)

(photo) walking in the morning, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan

The jumping dolphines
their wet backbones reflecting
sunshine.

Frano Vlatkovic, Croatia

■It's a dynamic haiku. I can imagine the scene clearly. Verbs always play the important role in haikus because they express lives in the nature, including human beings. Lives never stop but are always moving. The words jumping and reflecting are used effectively in this haiku.

Haiku in English(4)

(photo) azalias, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan


In the front of sign-post
on a hot street
a snake halts.

Franno Vlatkovic, Croatia

■It's humorous because the snake apparently could read the sign-post. This haiku indicates the season of summer distinctly by the word a hot street. It's the rare case in the foreign haikus.

Haiku of Jack Kerouac(12)

(photo) azaleas, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan


Dusk―the bird
on the fence
A contemporary of mine

■It's humorous and the author apparently feels familiar to the bird. His feeling resembles that of Issa, a famous Japanese haijinn in 18th century, who concidered small animals around him as his friends. He dindn't make a clear distinction between animals and human beings because he thought he could be reincarnated as an animal in the next life and the small animal that was before him could probably have been as a human in its previous birth. His thought was strongly influenced by the thought of the cycles of life in Buddhism. By the way, most Japanese people tend to believe in the though even now. It is true that is unscientific but the science has controlled, managed, and ruled the nature as tools, including human beings. We could have to use the science to coexist with the nature that has the same life as ours.

Haiku of Jack Kerouac(11)

(photo) fresh green, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan



Early morning yellow flowers
―Thinking about
The drunkars of Mexico

■I'm interested in the combination of yellow flowers and the drunkars. I think yellow flowers symbolize the drunkars of Mexico. I guess there were some yellow flowers around the drunkars when he traveled in Mexico. Dash is used effectively. Before Dash, he descibes the real world and after dash, the world in his mind.

Haiku in English(3)

(photo) early summer flowers, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan


Father's Day
somewhere in the crematorium
there is a rose

John Parsons
Bungay, U.K

■I'm impressed by a rose. I think this rose is red. People place a white rose on their Father's grave in Father's day. But in this case, there is a rose somewhere in the crematorium. I think the author wants to make a rose symbolize the Father's life. A red rose means passion and love. His life could be full of passion and love too. Mybe the author imagine the scene in Father's Day, remenbering his father.

Haiku in English(2)

(photo) the good old days, in Shiraoka, Saitama prefecture, Japan


Before the rain
The wind dies down―
I compose my thoughts

Dragan J. Ristic, Serbia

■I think this haiku grasps the silent moment in the nature. Generally speaking, we can see some thoughts in our behaviors but not necessarily see some behaviors in our thoughts. His thouhgts could be independant of his behaviors. What thoughts did he start to have?

Haiku in English(1)

(photo)Iris, in Shiraoka, Saitama prefecture, Japan

cassiopeia
the drive-in movie's
lonely

John Martone
IL, USA

■This is a nice haiku. I feel deep lonliness of our spesies in the universe. I think it interested that it is near to Japanese haikus that avoid explanations.

Haiku of Jack Kerouac(10)

(photo) early summer red flowers, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture,　Japan


The white chair is
holding its arms out
to Heaven―dandelions

■I can imagine the white chair is so comfortable. The auhtor may take a nap on it. The word dandelions is used effectively. The colour white symbolize the Heaven and his peaceful mind. And the dandelions seem to express the small but valuable happiness. In this way they are similar to violets that are often concidered as a symbol of familiarity and happiness in Japanese literatures. But Japanese haiku poets would write dandelion, not dandelions. The differnce is very interesting between the feelings of number. Japanese haiku tends to concentrate on the one thing, and English, German, and French haiku tend to express wide space in plural nouns.

Haiku of Jack Kerouac(9)

(photo) recorder player in the early summer park, in Matsudo, Chiba prefectre, Japan


Spring night―
the neighbor hammering
in the new old house

■The new old house means the new old-fashoned house. On one hand , Spring night is full of the scent of many different flowers, and singns of lives. On the other hand, we feel melancholy in spring night. Mybe our body can't adjust to the changing climate from winter to spring. The sound of the neighbor's hammering sounds familiar and melancholy.

Haiku of Jack Kerouac(8)

(photo) early summer flowers, in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture, Japan



After the shower
the red roses
in the green, green


■I think it beautiful to constract between the red of roses and the green of trees. This haiku is simple but is well elaborated. the phrase after the shower is effective. It describes the newer world after the shower using simple phrase of in the green, green.

Haiku of Jack Kerouac(7)

(photo) children born to play under the fresh green, in Higashiohmiya, Saitama prefecture, Japan


The full moon ―
the cat gone ―
My sleeping mother

■I feel interested in the contrast between the cat gone and my sleeping mother. The cat has gone out in the moonlight, but my mother is still sleeping. My of my mother means the author standing near to his mother in the room, seeing the scene. The full moon seems to keep an eye on the cat and the mother.

Haiku of Jack Kerouac(6)

(photo) fresh green, in Higashiohmiya, Saitama prefecture, Japan



The tree moving
in the moonlight
Wise to me

■This haiku is interestiong. I think there could be some interpretations on the haiku. It reminds me of the story by MIYAZAWA Kenji, famous Japanese poet and story teller.
He wrote an amusing story that a line of telegraph poles maches along the country road in the moonlight.