山国の雪解しづくは星からもyamaguni no yukige sizuku ha hoshi karamo

Snow in the mountains
glitter-melting drop by dropfrom the stars, too

海が見えしか凧下りて来ず
umi ga mieshika tako oritekozu
Kite – has it looked atthe sea, that it refuses
to come down again ?

卒業の帽子で叩き合ひ訣る
sotugyou no boushi de tatakiahi wakaru
Ｇｒａｄｕａｔｉｏｎ Ｄａｙ…
sｔｕｄｅｎｔｓ whacking each otherfarewell with their caps

鶯の啼き誤ちてより啼かず
uguisu no nakiawamacite yori nakazu
Nightingale
Missed a note while singing
And stopped singing太陽に酔ひ下りられぬ雲雀達
taiyou ni yoi orirarenu hibaritachi
High on sunlightand unable to come down –larks and larks and larks

座礁以後マストそのまま燕来るzashou igo masuto sonomama tubame kuru
After the wreck
swallows come and hang aroundthe upright mast

紅梅や枝々は空奪ひあひkoubai ya edaedaha sora ubahiai
Red plum-blossoms …
branches fighting branches
for a share of sky

壁画とも天井画とも梅仰ぐ
hekiga tomo tennjyoga tomo ume aogu
Wall fresco, thenceiling fresco – I look up
at flowering plum trees

散るさくら風のことばと日のことば
tiru sakura kaze no kotoba to hi no kotoba
Falling sakura:
the language of the wind
the speech of light

落椿われならば急流へ落つ
otitsubaki warenaraba kyuryu he otsu
Camellias dropping –if it were me, I’d drop
into some torrent

SUMMER
美しき五月の汗を拭はずに
utsukushiki gogatu no ase wo harawazuni

May-time sweat,
just too beautiful
to wipe away

一夏の汚れ木馬のたてがみに
hitonatsu no midare mokuba no tategamini

In its manethe grime of one whole summer –carousel horse
虹なにかしきりにこぼす海の上nizi nanika shikirini kobosu umi no ue
A rainbow
intent on pouring something
onto the ocean

ひとすぢの流るる汗も言葉なりhitosuji no nagaruru ase mo kotoba nari
Perspiration
running down in one straight line
is also language

火口湖のアダムに泳ぎ着きしイヴ
kakoouko no adamuni oyogitsukisi ibu
I think I’ve seen
Adam in a crater lakeswimming with Eve

うすものの中より銀の鍵を出す
usumono no nakayori gin no kagi wo dasu
Out of filmy gauzeshe materializes
a silvery key

昼寝より覚めてこの世の声を出す
hirune yori samete konoyono koewo dasuWith an earthy soundI wake from a heavenly
afternoon nap

湖といふ大きな耳に閑古鳥
mizuumi to iu ookina mimi ni kankodori
Cuckoo singing
into a lake, singing
into a big ear

来世には天馬になれよ登山馬
raise niwa tennbani nareyo tozanuma
Hill country cart horse
hurry up and be reborn
as Pegasus

かぶとむし一糸は鉄の枷以上
kabutomushi isshi ha tetsu no kase ijyo
Stag beetle
shacked by a single straud
stronger than steel

秋風や魚のかたちの骨のこり
akikaze ya sakana no katachi no hone nokori
Autumn wind –here a set of bones remain
shaped like a fish

村々のその寺々の秋の暮
muramurano sono teraderano aki no kure
Village on village
temple on temple, on all
an autumn twilight

刃を入れて拒む手ごたへ青林檎
ha wo irete kobamu tegotae aoringo
Green apple answers
my hand as though resisting
the entering blade昼は日を夜は月をあげ大花野
hiru ha hi wo yoru ha tuki wo agete oohanano
By day it lifts
the sun , by night the moona field of flowers

胡桃割る性の目覚めは詩の目覚め
kurumi waru sei no mezame ha shi no mezame
Cracking walnuts –eyes opening to Eros
opening to poems

叱られし星か流れて海の上
shikarareshi hoshi ga nagarete umi no ue

rebucked and chastiseda star run away from homedown to the sea

鱗雲うろこは西に行きつまる
urokogumo uroko ha nishi ni yukidumaru
Mackerel clouds
their scales starting to pile up

toward the west

逃げやすき時と言葉と胡桃の実
nigeyasuki toki to kotoba to kurumi no mi
They slip away
too easily:time,words
kernels of walnuts

山国は山を砦に冬を待つ
yamaguni ha yama wo toride ni fuyu wo matsu
Hill country
fortifying for winterbehind its mountains

宣言か予言か渡り鳥の声
sengen ka yogen ka wataridori no koe
Are their cries
statements or epiphanies
birds in migration

WINTER海を出る寒オリオンの一顆づつ
umi wo deru kan orion no ikka dutu
Leaving the ocean
piece by glittering piece
winter Orion

寒昴知恵のごとくに固まりて
kansubaru chie no gotokuni katamarite
Winter Pleiades
firming up and hardening
like so much wisdom

枯野ゆく最も遠き灯に惹かれkareno yuku mottomo tooki hi ni hikare
Crossing barren fields
captivated by a light
far far away

一対か一対一か枯野人
ittui ka ittai ichi ka karenobito
Are they companions
or enemies – two figures
on a barren field

吾子を抱く外套のまま手套のまま
ako wo daku gaitou no mama shutou no mama
In my overcoat
and my gloves too, never mind –hugging the baby

みちのくの星入り氷柱われに呉れよmichinoku no hoshi iri tsurara ware ni kureyo
Send me just one
icicle with stars in it
from my home up north

スケートの濡れ刃携へ人妻よsuke-to no nureba tazusae hitoduma yo
Dangling those skateswith the blades shiny wet, yessomeone’s else wife

手袋の愛撫さげすむ犬と猫
tebukuro no aibu sagesumu inu to neko
The cat and the dog
both disgusted with a pat
that’s got gloves on

鍵束を鳴らすジングルベルに和しkagitaba wo narasu jinguruberu ni washiKeeping timewith a bunch of jangling keys:
Jingle Bells

息白くして愛しあふ憎みあふiki siroku shite aishiau nikumiau
Loving or hating –either way – in wintertime
words come out white

OVERSEAS HAIKUINGIn U.S.A

摩天楼より新緑がパセリほど
matenrou yori sinryoku ga paseri hodo
From a skyscraper,
nothing but so much parsley –springtime’s new greens

ピーチパラソルの私室に入れて貰ふ
pi-chi parasoru no shishitsu ni irete morau
Invited into
the privacy of someone’s
beach umbrella…

In CANADA
湖があり森あり氷河とどまれる
mizuumi ga ari mori ari shouga todomareru
Glacier
for the present restrainedby lakes, by forests

太陽を OH!と迎へて老氷河
taiyou wo OH to mukaete rou hyouga
Howling,”OH !”old man glacier greets
the sun again

In CHINA
春暁の自転車五つ六つ百shungyou no jitensha itsutsu mutsu hyaku
Morning in spring –five bicycles, six,
one-hundred

長城のために聳えて夏の嶺
choujyou no tameni sobiete natsu no mine
Towering through summer
for the Great Wall to stretch on
mountain on mountain