MITSUAKI KOJIMA

Rose garden
she talks half to me
half to them

The woman tending roses could be a park gardener or the girl next door, but we know she must be the haikuist’s wife. Pruned to a perfect 3-5-3 syllables, this poem aims to draw a chuckle from the reader and poke a bit of fun at Fukuzawa’s better half. Roses are in full bloom in May in most parts of Japan. Perhaps these roses are yellow, the shade that connotes a jealous heart, but more likely they are deep red, signifying a long, happy marriage between the haikuist and his gardening spouse.

The next three poems are about feeling cozy enough to sleep. Drowsy with spring fever, Shiro Ogawa falls asleep allowing his wife to cleanse his ears gently. Jacek Margolak found peace surrounded by tiny white bells. Masako Miyake found a bright green caterpillar curled up in the pea pod she was hulling.

On wife’s lap
ears in her custody
drowsiness

Dark forest
head on a stone
by lilies of the valley

Caterpillar
next to a pea in a pod
takes a nap

Kids love to draw flowers, and art teacher Satoru Kanematsu marvels at how they line up tulips on the page. Sosuke Kanda enjoys watching people stroll along the sidewalks in an expensive area of Tokyo.

Drawn by kids
all in alignment
their tulips

Early summer
limbs of Ginza girls
milky white

J.D. Heskin contemplates what he’s going to have for lunch. Perhaps he is peering down into one of the many fishing lakes near his home in Minnesota. Brian McMurray caught a huge northern pike near Georgian Bay in Ontario. Michael Corr went strolling for fish stories at a pet shop in Nagoya.

The fat one
easy to catch and will make
a fine soup

Northern pike
lured from cold waters
Strike!

Platinum
fish front and center
window shop

Shiro Ogawa went for a boat ride near Tokyo, and Volker Friebel explored a meandering river in Germany.

Each J-stroke
propels the canoe
water warming

Clouds trembling
mirrored by the river
paddle strokes

Want to try composing haiku ?

Back numbers

The next issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network appears June 20. Readers are invited to submit haiku dedicated to Father’s Day via postcard to David McMurray at the International University of Kagoshima, Sakanoue 8-34-1, Kagoshima 891-0197, Japan, or by e-mail to <mcmurray@fka.att.ne.jp>. One haiku will be selected to be printed in the Asahi Haikuist column in the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun on the first and third Fridays of each month.