Shisan
the clear rock
drippings
led by eiko
yachimoto
(first folio)—summer
folio
clear rock
drippings--
Hisajo's in her tea room
when I close my eyes *
(eiko) summer
tomorrow's moonflowers
tightly furled
(susan) summer
lake island
a few herring gulls face
the rising wind
(sprite) no season
(second folio)—autumn
folio
out of the first
storm
storytelling by lantern light
(johnye) autumn
"only a paper moon"
Ella's crystal voice
through the static
(celia) autumn
the stone IUD
in the camel's womb
(susan) no season
(third folio)—winter
folio
drifting snow
the young lovers
wax their skis
(johnye) winter
burned out candles
by the box with the deed
(sprite) no season
"I pray
to shape my motivation"
Dalai Lama, 4am
(eiko) no season
(fourth folio)—spring
folio
clapping their hands
the children revive Tink
(celia) no season
cloudy sky
Capitol mowers
shred magnolia petals
(susan) spring
in a soft pink dawn
familiar buzz of bees
(sprite) spring
*footnote:
I wrote this haiku
when I visited Hisajo's graveyard in the corner of her husband's
ancestral estate in the remote mountains of Aichi prefecture.
Hisajo was one of the most brilliant woman haijin in all haiku
history but had to die without her genius duly recognized in
the first winter after Japan's defeat in WWII.
