MITSUAKI KOJIMA

Haikuists often apply pastel shades to their spring poetry. The appearance of pale and delicate spring flowers, however, doesn't necessarily bring to mind soft and gentle images for poets. The sight of the curving pale blue spike of forget-me-nots continues to jab at painful memories for Marites C. Omori in Yamanashi. Similarly, a little garden flower swept Tel Aviv-based Israeli poet Tanya Dikova away to a different time and place.

Forget-me-not
discriminating eyes
still in mind

A child
in the garden of memory
a little flower

Michael Corr was so smitten by the delicate shade and furling petals of the sweet peas in his garden that he forgot all about the guests he had invited for tea.

The furl in the sails and waves flowing along Osaka bay caught Hidehito Yasui's rapt attention.

Invited
guests for tea forgone
sweet pea mauve

Blue sailing
a thousand wave crests
shining wind

Polish poet Jacek Margolak decided to shade in the eyes of his sketch a little bit deeper in appreciation of the commemoration of the March 17 death of the patron saint of Ireland. J.D. Heskin also wrote a haiku to celebrate the day even though he is a Minnesota-based American poet of Norwegian heritage.

St. Patrick's Day
her eyes
more green

Irish today,
but then I'm back to being
a Norwegian

Kindergarten teacher Leah Ann Sullivan chuckled at the sight of a pupil getting ready to go home on March 3, the Doll Festival. Gerd Boerner misplaced the most precious one of a set of Babushka dolls, wooden Russian dolls of decreasing size that are placed one inside another. Charlie Smith laments for more frequent visits from his family in North Carolina.

Tucking hina dolls
that look like Mom and Dad
into his backpack

Russian dolls
the smallest one
lost

Dusting doll
daughter's last visit
last girl's day

According to the haiku calendar, winter comes to an abrupt end on March 21, the vernal equinox. Mickey Nasu hopes to hear from warm spring winds to celebrate that special day, whereas Mototaka Yamakami describes the demarcation as a hand-slapping celebration.

A thousand winds
how encouraging they sing
vernal equinox

Winter spring
slapping high fives
equinox

According to Riita Rossilahti, when winds blow through the willows, birches and larches near her home in Finland, the trees seem to talk to her. In return, she writes poetry about them, noting there are "plenty of them to write about in Finland." Along with several other members of a haiku club, she recently published a book of haiku dedicated to trees.

Merry-go-round wind
bending talkative trees
to and fro

Want to try composing haiku ?

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The next issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network will appear March 31. Send haiku to David McMurray at the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, 5-3-2 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8011, by fax to 03-5541-8539, or by e-mail to <is@asahi.com>.