Poem – My Love

itty-bitty,
teensy-weensy,
teeny-tiny,
itsy-bitsy.

that’s how
my love has been,
always.

itty-bitty,
teensy-weensy,
teeny-tiny,
itsy-bitsy.

Poem – Funeral

men in black,
women also.
I’ve seen them a couple of times
since I was a kid,
and some more
till I die.

Poem – Winter Garden

Winter garden

The moon thinned to a thread

Insects singing

Poem – Wrapping Dumplings

Wrapping dumplings in

Bamboo leaves, with one finger

She tides her hair

Poem – What Fish Feel

What fish feel

Birds feel, I don’t know

The year ending

Poem – Year’s End

Year’s end, all

Comers of this

Floating world, swept

Poem – First Winter Rain

First winter rain 

Even the monkey

Seems to want a rain coat.

Poem – And their Feet Move

And their feet move

Rhythmically as tender

Feet of cretan girls

Danced once around an

Altar of love crushing

A circle in the soft

Smooth flowering grass

On New Year’s Day – Natsume Soseki

On New Year’s Day

I long to meet my parents

As they were before my birth.

The Lamp Once Out – Natsume Soseki

The Lamp Once Out

Cool stars enter

The window frame.

Watch Birth and Death – Natsume Soseki

Watch birth and death 

The lotus has already 

Opened its flower.

Poem – Words

Although they are

Only breath, words

Which I command 

Are immortal

A Sake Barrel – Ihara Saikaku

A sake barrel,
Born without hands, makes merry —

Cherry blossom time. 

Shinkokinshu – Fujiwara Shunzei

As evening falls, 
From along the moors the autumn wind 

Blows chill into the heart; 

And the quails raise their plaintive cry 

In the deep grass of Fukakusa village. 

At Night – Yone Noguchi

At night the Universe grows lean, sober-
faced, of intoxication,

The shadow of the half-sphere curtains

down closely against my world, like a 

doorless cage, and the stillness chained by

wrinkled darkness strains throughout the Uni-

verse to be free. 

Listen, frogs in the pond, (the world is a pond itself)

cry out for the light, for the truth!

The curtains rattle ghostlily along, bloodily biting

my soul, the winds knocking on my cabin door

with their shadowy hands. 

Windy Fall – Kobayashi Issa

At my daughter’s grave, Thirty days

After her death

Windy fall

These are the scarlet flowers

She liked to pick 

With my Father – Kobayashi Issa

With my father 

I would watch dawn

Over green fields

That Pretty Girl – Kobayashi Issa

That pretty girl

Munching and rustling

The wrapped up rice cake.

Pissing in the Snow – Kobayashi Issa

Pissing in the snow

Outside my door

It makes a very straight hole.

How Much – Kobayashi Issa

How much

Are you enjoying yourself

Tiger moth ?

In Spring Rain – Kobayashi Issa

In spring rain 

A pretty girl

Yawning

Chewing Gum – Hiroshi Satow

smelling like a crazy rose, 
are you chewing a gum, 

or are you a chewing gum? 

once you kiss me, 

you’re too sticky, 

don’t ever let me; 

while you hug me, 

you’re so velvety, 

and so slippery, 

yet so sticky, 

like you chewing a gum, 

or you a chewing gum. 

Cherry Flower – Hiroshi Satow

Once it was in full bloom, 
Now it is scattering its petals.

One is here, 

One is there. 

Candle – Hiroshi Satow

you look pale, 
alone in the dark staggering; 

so does my life.
and you’ll be extinguished, 

transient but not meaningless; 

so do I wish my life would be. 

Belt – Hiroshi Satow

twining around her waist, 
making her sigh, 

oh, 

wanna be her belt.