April 30, 2009

No one here
cherry in full bloom
high school closed

Cherry blossoms reached their peak during the short break between graduation day and the first day of classes in many parts of Japan. Penned in a 3-5-3 syllable format, with one ephemeral seasonal word, the melancholic haiku alludes to the fact that declining numbers of young people are causing schools to close. Yukiko Yamada enjoyed a two-year sojourn composing poetry in Matsue before moving back to Tokyo on April 1. She admits, "I feel a bit sad now." Yamada is a correspondence student of haiku at the Asahi Culture Center in Tokyo. Her classmate Shiomi Yukie includes geographical locations in her haiku. Satoru Kanematsu wishes he could travel again.

12 centimeters
rising waters of Lake Biwa
rushing spring

Spring passing
my expired passport
and old maps

Jacob Mensah reports that he has spent many splendid afternoons in Bawjiase, a small market town in central Ghana, but none so beautiful as this April. In the afternoon sky he watched the moon rise while the sun was setting. His young son called upon his mother and teachers to watch, too. A photograph failed to capture both orbs, and the image soon melted before their eyes. The time spent with his family is still bright in the haiku he wrote that day. Mensah introduces himself as a vegetarian, a poet, visual artist, creative writer, and artist from Ghana.

Moon rises
before sunset
maple blossoms

Mensah describes the diversity of the shades of green in these next haiku.

Green kiosk
in the rain
water lilies

Frog squats
from a distance
hazy morning

Canadian poet Brent MacLaine from the University of Prince Edward Island will launch his new anthology on Canadian landscapes, "Shades of Green," on May 30 at the Amami No Sato Gardens in Kagoshima. The new book "Seasons and Landscapes in Japanese Poetry" by UCLA professor of Asian studies, Michael Marra will also be introduced at the gala evening for haikuists.

Tenshi Sakai juxtaposes amphibians, birds, flowers and a woman in the next haiku. Her new book, "Yushi and Tenshi's Haiku and Photographs and English Haiku" is scheduled to be released this summer.

Toad lily
lady in kimono
pigeon-toed

A new school year has started in Japan, but it ends in May in North Carolina writes Charlie Smith, a professor of mathematics. Satoru Kanematsu peers into an elementary school classroom in Nagoya.

New haircut
Spiderman rain boots
first school day

First lesson
on the teacher's desk
pink tulips

The following haiku by Sister Kruse in Minnesota was forwarded by her friend, Masao Mina a professor of English at Kagoshima Immaculate Heart University. Shoichi Kuroda was so taken by the sight and smell of wisteria he shouted out in French.

Today blue-jay called
Alerting friends amid snow
"Scattered suets here."

Oh, c'est si bon!
wisteria clusters
canopy earth

Want to try composing haiku ?

Back numbers

The next issues of the Asahi Haikuist Network appear May 15 and 29. Send haiku about your spring break 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 selected for printing in the Asahi Haikuist column in the International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun on the first, third, and fifth Fridays of the month.