Bright pearl of twilight
moon against a sapphire sky
midsummer night's jewels
--Eric Kimura (Hawaii)
* * *
In predawn stillness
pinkish tinged clouds escaping
the typhoon's approach
--Paul Faust (Ashiya, Hyogo)
* * *
Girl in black
looks at girls
running free
--John Hamley (Ontario)
* * *
Lotus pond--
pair of red dragonflies
playing tag
--Isao Soematsu (Nagoya)
* * *
Yellow fuzzy stripes
collecting red flower nectar
very busy bee
--John Jennings (Ireland )
* * *
Eggplant mauve
enviably hairless
and tactile
--Michael Corr (Nagoya)
* * *
Midsummer estuary
redefining
indigo
--Helen Buckingham (U.K.)
* * *
Vermeer's blue
reaches my pupils
open wide
--Murasaki Sagano (Kyoto)
* * *
Heat haze
all the colors of nature
simmer
--Fusayo Kawano (Fukuoka Prefecture)
* * *
Painting the world,
the rainbow colors
are enough
--Vasile Moldovan (Romania)
--------------- From the notebook ---------------
In a wood box
full of old seashells
a picture of Dad
--Jose Fernandes (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Colorful treasures pulled from the beach fade quickly once summer ends. Rooting through old, dried-up souvenirs from a summer long ago, Jose Fernandes is surprised by a familiar face. He vividly recollects the precious moment and sets it down in a stirring haiku.
But for
footsteps and cicadas
silence
Kenichi Ikemoto hikes along the seacoast in New Zealand. There were few people on the way, along reports, "Only my footsteps and cicada songs were heard, and I believe the cicadas were encouraging an overseas pensioner even though they were destined to die soon." Before setting out on a journey, Yutaka Kitajima gazes at the flowers outside his home in Niigata Prefecture longer than he usually does.
Near the day
I leave this country
bellflowers
Another summer gone, haikuists record the colors and sounds of the special moments they experienced during their holidays. Teruko Omoto visited homes for the elderly in Costa Rica to observe the facilities and the people. She retains vivid recollections of the residents she observed in San Jose.
Playroom
lemon-yellow pants
pink skirt
Michael Corr is infatuated with pink shells. He remembers fashioning shells into wind chimes.
Sympathetic
irresistible lips
a pink shell
* * *
Mother's wind
chimes: pink scallop shells
flutter notes
Maria Santomauro notes how the autumn sun sets earlier on her favorite beach in New York. Satoru Kanematsu cherishes a few souvenirs his granddaughter left him before going back to school.
Early sunset-
a flip-flop floats
on the waves
* * *
Cherry shells
my granddaughter's gifts
summer's end
* * *
A wing left
in the insect cage
summer's end
Kanematsu personifies the sound of thunder. This summer he read an anthology of the poems and letters left behind by pilots in World War II. Corr remembers a breathtaking moment in 1945 when his mother called out, "The war is over!"
The small girl:
"What makes you so mad,
Mr. Thunder?"
* * *
Rereading
notes young soldiers left
far thunder
* * *
War ended
Mom claims quietly:
town sirens
A sudden storm has Corr worrying for the ornate pair of golden dolphin-like fish (referred to as shachihoko in Japanese legend) perched on the roof of Nagoya Castle.
Castle town
squall splashes gold carp
Nagoya
Horst Ludwig faces his final year of lecturing at Gustavus Adolphus in Pennsylvania. Asako Utsunomiya pays tribute to the university she graduated from in Hiroshima.
Back to school
to last teaching year--
turning leaves
* * *
Dayflower
moist with morning dew
alma mater
With a wry smile, Hajimu Nakano watches children head back to school in Japan. Pupils seem reluctant to turn their thoughts to study in the U.K. and Italy, notes Helen Buckingham and Mario Massimo Zontini, respectively. Ernesto P. Santiago believes in lifelong learning in the Philippines.
Summer vacation over
going back to school
sunburned
* * *
Mulberry moon
suspending us
from all thought of school
* * *
Going back to school
children slow their pace
and their dreams
* * *
Going back to school
at 69 I feel ...
I pick a snail
Vida attends a PTA meeting on the first day of school. Virginie Colline daydreams of summer in France. Christine L. Villa is distracted from studies in California.
first day of school
the shy smiles
of parents
* * *
By the classroom window
dreaming of summer dress
and terracotta sun
* * *
In the classroom
a butterfly carries
my thoughts elsewhere
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next issues of the Asahi Haikuist Network appear Sept. 16 and Sept. 30. Readers are invited to send haiku about the first signs of autumn on a 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).
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