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 – Wrapping The Rice Cakes

Wrapping the rice cakes

With one hand 

She fingers back 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.

Under My Tree Roof – Matsuo Basho

Under my tree roof

Slanting lines of April rain

Separate to drops.

What Fish Feel – Matsuo Basho

What fish feel

Birds feel, I don’t know

The year ending

Winter Garden – Matsuo Basho

Winter garden

The moon thinned to a thread

Insects singing

Wrapping Dumplings – Matsuo Basho

Wrapping dumplings in

Bamboo leaves, with one finger

She tidies, her hair

Years End – Matsuo Basho

Years end all

Corners of this

Floating world,swept

Fleas, Lice – Haiku

Fleas, Lice

A horse peeing

Near my pillow

A Weathered Skeleton – Haiku

A weathered skeleton

In windy fields of memory

Piercing like a knife

A Strange Flower – Haiku

A strange Flower

For buds and butterflies 

The autumn sky 

Bush Warbler – Haiku

Bush warbler

Shits on the rice cakes

On the porch rail

A Bee – Haiku

A bee

Staggers out

Of the peony

I am a Wanderer – Matsuo Basho

I’m a wanderer
so let that be my name –
the first winter rain

Poem – I Like to Wash

I like to wash,
the dust of this world
In the droplets of dew.

Husking Rice – Matsuo Basho

husking rice
a child squints up
to view the moon

A Man Infirm – Matsuo Basho

A man, infirm 

With age, slowly sucks 

A fish bone.

A Cuckoo Cries – Matsuo Basho

a cuckoo cries 

and through a thicket of bamboo 

the late moon shines

A Field of Cotton – Matsuo Basho

A field of cotton– 

as if the moon 

had flowered. 

A Cool Fall Night – Matsuo Basho

At a hermitage: 
A cool fall night– 

getting dinner, we peeled 

eggplants, cucumbers. 

A Cold Rain Starting – Matsuo Basho

A cold rain starting 

And no hat — 

So?

A Cicada Shell – Matsuo Basho

A cicada shell; 

it sang itself 

utterly away. 

A Caterpillar – Matsuo Basho

A caterpillar, 

this deep in fall– 

still not a butterfly. 

A Bee – Matsuo Basho

A bee 

staggers out 

of the peony. 

A Ball of Snow – Matsuo Basho

you make the fire 

and I’ll show you something wonderful: 

a big ball of snow!