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December 5, 2008

	Gusty wind-- circle by circle pigeons warm up --Hana Nestieva (Israel)		Pigeons fly for shelter through smoke-- blazing windows --R.K. Singh (Mumbai)

	Winter bed all colors turn gray in darkness --Kenichiro Iribe (Kagoshima)		Depression since swatting a roach chilly night --Satoru Kanematsu (Nagoya)

	Brown ivy on a phone wire at dusk wren chatter --Richard Straw (North Carolina)		Boarding a summer plane landing in winter --Origa (Michigan)

	Grandkids in kimono having fun in sneakers 7-5-3 Meiji Shrine --Wen Wei (New York)		Winter wind-- perhaps seeking some reason for being --J.D. Heskin (Minnesota)

	Wintry wind freezes excavated fragments archaeological ruins --Hidehito Yasui (Osaka)		Black plastic bag blows: cavorting, flirting. Yet it leaves the snow-fence cold. --Ellen Peckham (New York)

MITSUAKI KOJIMA

Winter begins
notes in the book
brother left

When her brother passed away, Tenshi Sakai received a book he had owned. Leafing through the pages as a way to bring back fond memories, she was deeply touched by several insertions that he had penned. Her haiku was formed in a pithy 11-syllables. Tenshi, her pen name, is collaborating on writing a haiku book with her husband, a retired medical doctor who is also an avid poet and photographer. Together they have traveled the world in search of haiku.

Sosuke Kanda is a world traveler who appreciates his own garden in Saitama more each time he returns from abroad. Shoichi Kuroda prefers visiting a splendid garden in Shinjuku. His 5-7-5 haiku could be shortened to: Shinjuku / escapes world panic / mums at best.

Trip over
chrysanthemum bloom
my garden

Shinjuku garden
escaping from world panic
chrysanthemum at best

Students at the International University of Kagoshima participated in a haiku workshop on Dec. 1 with Linda Ohama, the Canadian film director of "Obachan's Garden" (2001). Rie Shinyama shares a memory of her own grandmother. Miho Uezono smelled flowers while watching the documentary about the last picture bride to leave Onomichi, Japan. Kenichiro Iribe, a retired doctor combines the velvety texture of a rose petal with a tear.

Grandmother
laughs in wintertime
in our mind

Garden scents
Canadian flowers
in spring breeze

Drop of rain
on a rose petal--
sliding off

Students are looking forward to the results of a Dec. 7 haiku contest commemorating the 100th anniversary of "Anne of Green Gables" at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. Ryuji Oitate combines Canadian autumnal imagery and his image of Anne. Seiichiro Seto creates an enchanting winter scene.

Red-haired girl
chases the "V" formed by geese
golden rye farm

Winter moon shines pale
wind sighs in the eulalia--
world of Anne and I

Yutaka Kitajima prays for the 10 pairs of wild ibis that were recently released on Sado Island. His 5-7-5 syllable poem could be shortened to: Wild ibis / again o'er this lake / thousand swans.

Praying wild ibis
fly again over this lake
with thousands of swans

The first line of the following poem by Richard Straw was incorrectly inverted to "Darkness cold" in a previous issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network. Donna Fleischer plays with a similar-sounding noun and verb in her delightful haiku.

In cold darkness,
footsteps on fallen leaves--
cheering ballplayers

The oak leaf
leaves the oak
November winds

Want to try composing haiku ?

Back numbers

The next issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network appears Dec. 19. Send haiku about Christmastime by postcard to David McMurray at the International University of Kagoshima, Sakanoue 8-34-1, Kagoshima, 891-0197, Japan, or e-mail to <mcmurray@fka.att.ne.jp>. One haiku is printed in the Asahi Haikuist column in the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun on the first, third and fifth Fridays of the month.