Green Fields [Haiku]

the rice fields 
are at their most verdant;
scent of rain.

Four Seasonal Haiku of Ryōkan [w/ Audio]

Spring

rainy days
make the monk Ryōkan
feel sad.

Summer

the moon in my window
is all the thief left behind.

Autumn

an autumn wind
chills the dangling persimmons,
and my testicles.

Winter

little birds have
gathered in the brushwood
on a snowy morn.

Four Seasonal Haiku of Sōgi [w/ Audio]

SPRING

Despite the storm,
Spring's herald makes it through:
Scent of plum blossom.

SUMMER

Abundant fireflies
This year, but this morning
None are to be seen.

AUTUMN

Autumn sea:
A boat moves, leaf-like,
In the floating world.

WINTER

Winter rains
Cross the mountains
On rising clouds.

Four Seasonal Haiku of Masaoka Shiki [w/ Audio]

SPRING

on wet feet,
the sparrows hop
down the hall.

SUMMER

the owl naps,
and dreams of a
summer grove.

AUTUMN

sunny autumn day:
smoke from something burning
rises skyward.

WINTER

a snowy night;
the sound of bamboo
rustling.

Seasonless [Haiku]

spring green to the right; 
tawny stalk stubble on the left
a seasonless dreamworld?

Four Seasonal Haiku of Yosa Buson [w/ Audio]

SPRING*

The spring sea;
gently, quietly,
 all day long.

SUMMER

what a joy!
wading through summer rivers,
 sandals in hand.

AUTUMN

vacant teahouse,
atop the mountain:
 a harvest moon.

WINTER

neighbors detest me
for my whistling kettle:
 a cold winter night.

* Translation by: Wilson, William Scott. 2023. A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Haiku. Tuttle Publishing: North Clarendon, VT.

Skirmish Line [Haiku]

rainclouds crawl nearer,
like a battle cruiser
 inching towards war.

“O sweet spontaneous” by E.E. Cummings [w/ Audio]

O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the
doting
   
    fingers of
prurient philosophers pinched
and
poked

thee
, has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy

  beauty  how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy knees
squeezing and

buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods

  (but

true

to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover

  thou answerest

them only with

  spring)

Four Haiku by Kobayashi Issa [w/ Audio]

muddy clogs
beside each gate;
Spring is here.
"don't swat!"
the fly rubs its hands,
then rubs its feet.
autumn rain,
a small sumo wrestler
pushes through.
sleeping in a row,
the Shinano mountains:
under snow blanket.
In Japanese:


門門の下駄の泥より春立ちぬ




やれ打つな蠅が手を摺り足をする




秋の雨小さき角力通りけり





寝ならぶやしなのの山も夜の雪




From: Wilson, William Scott. 2023. A Beginners Guide to Japanese Haiku. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 224pp.

After the Rain [Haiku]

after Spring rains,
 puddles throw reflections 
  of light-fringed clouds.