MITSUAKI KOJIMA

Time seems to stand still during the rainy season. The dreary rain in Osaka, day-in and day-out, has Hidehito Yasui feeling as though it will never end.

Standing still
heron on a log
floats downwind

Herons seem happy enough in the rain notes Michael Corr in Nagoya who spotted a majestic male making a nest.

Heron tops
glade its twig coiled for
basket nest

Like travelers in time, the months and seasons are indeed moving along; June 30 marks the halfway point in the calendar year. Kiyoshi Fukuzawa finds himself waking up earlier these days, making it a little bit easier to remember what he dreams about at night.

Indian-poet Kala Ramesh notes the daily path of the sun has been reaching higher and noontime shadows are getting shorter.

Early birds--
happily I trace
broken dream

Afternoon sun
the shadow of the flower
falls on itself

In Aomori, Tatsuko Toshima is looking forward to the arrival of a visitor from Canada. July 1 marks Canada Day, the 140th anniversary of the country's confederation.

Summer wind
carries visitor
from Canada

This year the transition to the second half of the year is made that much more special by the appearance of a full moon notes Jeffrey Woodward in Detroit.

She, too, may be proud
of her bright escort,
the summer moon

In the time of Matsuo Basho, Japanese culture followed the lunar calendar: The new year started with spring. Basho enjoyed travel in summer, and wrote the following poem concerning the beautiful views from a residence he visited.

Yama mo niwa mo ugokiiruru ya natsuzashiki

Mountains too
move into the garden
summer parlor

Yukiko Yamada moved from Tokyo to Matsue, where she has been learning about the city's history by reading books written by Lafacadio Hearn.

Lotus flowers
as they were described
Hearn's garden

Lafcadio Hearn first translated Matsuo Basho's poetry in 1898 in his book "Exotics and Retrospectives."

Furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto
Old pond--frogs jumping in--sound of water

Murasaki Sagano closely observed someone in a Kyoto cafe, describing her by the way she spoke.

Close to her
cafe in roses
audibility

Peggy Heinrich warns us to make good use of the summer months ahead, because the season will surely end. In California, purple iris usually bloom mid-summer, but her stubborn garden plants perennially sprout broad basal leaves.

Summer's end
the patch of iris
that never blooms

Want to try composing haiku ?

Back numbers

The next issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network will appear on July 7. Readers are invited to mail summer haiku about the rainy season and contest or club announcements 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 e-mail to <is@asahi.com>.