For Anu

Every so often I visit Anu's blog http://anustory.blogspot.com/A great place, filled with wonder and genuine gems. Anu writes great poetry and sometimes very hot stuff as well. I just wanted to share with her another version of a magnificent poem she wrote recently...

sipping black coffee

snow white cranes glide

accross the horizon

Horonigaki koh-hi

Me de ou kanata no

Tsuru no shirosa

ほろ苦き珈琲　　　　　

目で追う　　　　

彼方の鶴の白さ

sirotant un café noir
des grues couleur de neige glissent

sur l’horizon

haiku

Here are a few haiku for you, wherever you are


Osaka subway station
an old woman limps
splendid autumn

Osaka chikatetsu eki no naka
Kata-ashi hikizuri Obaasan
iine! Kono Aki

大阪　地下鉄　駅の中
片足ひき摺りお婆さん　　　
いいね！この秋

listening to petals
ears fall
into the silence

Hanabira ni
kiki-irite
Mimi wa shizukesa
shizumiyuku

花びらに聞き入りて　　　　
耳は静けさ　　　　
沈みゆく


as the fan is waved
the poem dreams
it is a butterfly

Sensu yura yura
yuramekite
Uta o tsumugu wa
Choh no yume

扇子ゆらゆら揺らめきて　　　　
詩を紡ぐは　　　　　
蝶の夢

on a Kyoto street
small chicks walking in a line
schoolchildren in white hats

kyoh no hosomichi
hiyoko ichiretsu
Warabe no bohshi no
Shirosa kana

京の細道　　　　　　
ひよこ一列　　　　
童の帽子の白さかな



shimmering lights
in the scented autumn air
her footsteps

Komorebi ni
Kanojo no ashioto
Aki no kehai

木漏れ日に　　　　　　　
彼女の足音　　　　　　
秋の気配

in the train over the bridge
a vast stretch of river
she is so close

Kawa wa yoyo
hashi no ue
ressha no
hutari nochikasa kana

川は洋々橋の上　　　　　
列車のふたりの　　　　　　　
近さかな


mad birds in the tree
"pitapatapi" of the rain
your voice

Kotori wa kokage de oosawagi
pichi pichi chapu chapu
ame no koe
kimi no koe
　　　
小鳥は木陰で大騒ぎ　　　　　　
ピチピチ　チャプチャプ　　　　　
雨の声　　　　　　　
君の声

raindrops and crimson leaves
jewels
on her skin

Ame no shizuku ya momiji kana
kanohito no hada
tama no hikari　　　

雨の雫や紅葉かな　　　　
彼の人の肌　　　　　
玉の光

the longing
flowers
in bloom


Machiwabite machiwabita
hana zo
sakikeru

待ちわびて　
待ちわびた　　　　　　　
花ぞ咲きける

Quelques haïku pour toi, où que tu sois

station de métro d’Osaka
Une vieille femme claudique
Automne splendide

écoutant les pétales
les oreilles tombent
dans le silence

l’éventail ondule
et le poème se rêve
papillon

une rue de Kyoto
une file de petits poussins
écoliers en chapeaux blancs

lumières tremblantes
dans l’air parfumé d’automne
ses pas

dans le train par-dessus le pont
une vaste étendue d’eau
elle est si proche

oiseaux fous dans l’arbre
pitapatapi de la pluie
ta voix

gouttes de pluie et feuilles cramoisies
joyaux
sur ta peau

l’attente
fleurs
écloses

Beautiful sound

Another of these simple and naïve poems. You see, I don't write elaborate stuff anymore. I don't care about literature and sophistication. I write what passes through my life, my veins. Moments. Snapshots. Have mercy...

Through the rain
Your fingers,
Ever green lands behind your eyes
And the ripe sun
And this light everywhere,

Blossoms of your breath
Silent sakura
covering the spring trees
whirling away
endlessly
from dawn to dawn,

A birdsong
Arises,

Your beautiful sound

French croissants

As I finish my morning zazen on my futon in a bare and simple single room (I have no furniture and don't need any), I go out in a little street nearby, close to the lazy river. A small and very beautiful wooden shrine with bibbed Jizo stands there, next to a vegetable shop. This morning, to my surprise, an old lady that can hardly walk is offering incense to the group of small stones vaguely shaped in human form. She has presumably lost a baby or a child in a distant past, and this the way she remembers the lost being. I stand there watching her and her son or neighbour helping her. After greeting each other she leaves. And I do a short ceremony before the group of Jizos, reciting sutras and offering incense. It is what i do now because I have no altar at home, no statue. Just a bowl in which I burn incense and a kakejiku of Daruma painted by a famous Soto patriarch. A gentle Autumn wind blows and my happy robes fly in every direction.

On my way back, I buy two French croissants from a great local bakery. I eat them on my way back home, as I walk along, without coffee. Just tasting the joy of being alive.