10 Shizunojo Takeshita
(1887-1951)
Haiku by Japanese  Poets 5
                                    translated by Fay Aoyagi
11 Mantaro Kubo
(1889-1963)
from Gendai no Haiku (Modern Haiku), edited by Shobin Hirai, Kodansha,
Tokyo, 1996
mijikayo ya chizeri naku ko o sutecchimaoka

short night--
should I throw away this chold
crying for my milk

(this is the most famous haiku by Shizunojo)
hi o owanu oohimawari to narinikeri

 becoming
 a giant sunflower
 that no longer follows the sun
kotogotoku tsuma no ihitsu ya tanebukuro

  all the letters written
  by my late husband--
  seeds in the bags
fushiana no hi ga kaze no ko no hoo ni arite

 sunlight through the hole
 on the cheek
 of my sick child
akete hofuri kurete metori ya koajisai

be buried at dawn
be married at dusk--
dark hydrangea
ichigo jamu dannshi wa kore o kuu bekarazu

 strawberry jam
a male child must not eat
this
kandagawa matsuri no naka o nagarekeri

River Kanda
flows in the middle
of the festival
tokeiya no tokei haru no yo dore ga honto

 clocks in the clock shop
 on the spring night
 which one tells the truth
furugoyomi mizu wa kuraki o nagarekeri

 old calendar
 water runs through
 in the darkness
kosutsumoriaredo asagao makinikeri

 I may move from this house
 yet I plant
 morning glory seeds
kafu idete chouchin tsureri akimatsuri

  a widow steps out
  to hang a lantern--
  autumn festival
banryou ya umi chikakeredo miniyukazu

    late summer--
    the sea is not far
    but I will not go to see it
yudoufu ya inochi no hate no usuakari

     hot tofu dish--
     a dim light
     at the end of my life