Well everyone, National Poetry Month is officially over – it went by so quickly! As a farewell gesture, we've rounded up the poems we've shared from our Japanese poetry collections during the second half of April (plus a few more). You can read them all below – enjoy!
Watching the cherry blossoms shimmer, break through the sunshine; I was born to be human in this dark, transient world
- Chieko Yamanaka
A deep canyon, the moon behind it– where did it come from?
–Teiko Inahata
Rain in the eucalyptus tree like infinite thought
–Kimiko Itami
My gloom is only
because I envy the birds
these blossoms
–Sogi
The cat’s food dish
the shell of an abalone
one-sided longing
–Shuwa
Boundlessly
over the surface of the paddies
a breeze wafts
–Koroku
Awakening faith
at the time when blossoms
are just in the bud
–Kyorai
To the point of
sucking on fish bones
looking at old age
–Basho
Under thin snow
the leaves make colorful
this mountain path
–Shohaku
To those who lament the cries of monkeys
what of the abandoned child
in the autumn wind?
–Basho
Sympathy
toward people, toward cars
toward this town
–Momoko
SPRING
under the cherry blossoms, warmed by the earth's smell
a man is hanging from a rope
his eyelids convulse
the man drifts in and out of his dreams
a girl’s taut breasts softly grow rounder
the snake he saw yesterday returns
and eases up the trunk of the tree
the man’s grip releases
many things have been thrown at his feet
on the tip of his swaying fingers
one transparent petal remains
–Miyuki Aoyama
FEBRUARY
the field of wheat is drying out
the field mouse has shrived up
i see teeth in its half-opened mouth
in the dead of the night
a cat with a distorted body leaps and leaps
the cat moans in a baby’s voice
a woman with a low temperature slowly strolls the field
hearing the woman’s footsteps
the flesh underfoot grows sullen
–Miyuki Aoyama
PEACH
a ripe peach falls
the peach sinks in the heavy summer air
a stifling hot wind pushes it up from under
a woman in her ninth month digs a hole
i put a slippery thing in my mouth
and feel a sudden nausea
a woman gives out a scream behind the dark shoji
all at once, the children become sleepy
the blackened peach in the air
the dog with a black penis slowly goes crazy
–Miyuki Aoyama
If you enjoyed these poems, you will definitely enjoy reading our poetry collections in their entirety. These particular poems come from The Haiku Seasons, A Long Rainy Season, The Haiku Apprentice, and Other Side River . Of course, poetry is always in the air, especially as spring blossoms into the coming summer months, so look forward to more haiku, tanka, and free verse Japanese poetry on our social media and blog every so often – cheers!