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