triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY! hosts: Kala Ramesh and Vidya Shankar GUEST EDITOR: Keiko Izawa 11th October 2023
haison no posuto ni kotori kite yoake
dawn —
a bird comes to a mailbox
in the abandoned village
Tomio Umezawa (1950 – )
from TBS haiku show Purepado
bird (meaning migratory bird): autumn kigo
During this month, I’d like to introduce contemporary Japanese haiku, including kigo, which are referred to as “yūki haiku(有季俳句)”. In yūki haiku, toriawase (matching kigo and the remaining phrases) is the key point, not to mention its creativity and originality. In my view, Japanese haiku are generally simple compared to English (language) haiku, but the subtle sensibility is embedded within as the synergies with the power of kigo. I hope you enjoy karumi (lightness) blended with seasonality in these haiku.
Keiko Izawa
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Thank you for being our next guest editor Keiko Izawa You are bringing something fresh and this is going to be a treat for all our members. _()_
Lovely! I have a poem about 'mailbox hanging halfway' in 'abandoned house'. Maybe a bit of wabi-sabi.
I liked the way 'all positive appearances in the most negative area'.
# 1 feedback welcome
abandoned village-
a whimpering canine
disturbs the silence
A simply beautiful poem. The appearance of the bird brightens the village along with the arrival of dawn, while the pathos is evoked in the setting of desolate village. The image might deepen the pathos in a way. The juxtaposition: “light and dark” is effectively working here.