Basho
April 5, 2014 by babylondogs
I am a haiku poet. Sometimes I nail it, most of the time I miss the mark. The following are 30 poems written by Basho, translated by me from the original Japanese and modified by consulting other translations. When I fail as a poet, which is the rule and not the exception, I read Basho, Buson, and Issa. (Translations of these other two are forthcoming). Read the following slowly. Take your time with them. If they don’t train your eye to see and read haiku, I don’t know what will. The last poem in this post is Basho’s death poem, written just before he died.
This road
no one goes down –
Autumn evening.
Autumn moonlight –
worm silently digs
Into chestnut.
Snowy morning
alone –
Chewing dried salmon.
Crow
settles on a bare branch –
Autumn evening.
Crane’s legs
shorter
In spring ran.
As for the
roadside hibiscus –
My horse ate it.
Melts
in my hand –
Autumn frost.
Another year –
hat in hand,
Sandals on feet.
Oak tree
not interested
In cherry blossoms.
Bee
staggers from
The peony.
Old pond
frog hops in –
Plop!
Awakened –
sound of the water jar
Cracking in the cold.
Clear water –
tiny crab
Crawls up my leg.
From which tree
such
Fragrance?
Jars of octopus –
brief dreams
Beneath summer moon.
Unlike anything
they compare it to –
Summer moon.
As sound fades
flower scent rises –
Evening bell.
Spring rain
through the roof
Dripping from wasp’s nest.
Cool melons
flecked with mud
In morning dew.
Cicada shell –
it sang itself
Away.
Napping –
feet against
A cool wall.
Fish shop –
gums of salt-bream
Look cold.
Visiting graves –
the white haired
Lean on canes.
Fish smell –
perch guts
In water weeds.
Clouds –
giving moon gazers
A break.
Heat waves
an inch or two
Above dead grass.
Lodging
where prostitutes sleep –
Bush clover and moon.
You could come here –
I’m lonely too –
Autumn evening.
A group
of moon gazers –
Not one beautiful face.
Sick on a journey –
my dreams wander
Withered fields.
© William Banks and “Babylon Dogs” 2014. All content of this blog and website, unless specifically noted otherwise, is protected under U.S. copyright. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material in whole or part without express written permission from this blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to William Banks as author and “Babylon Dogs” as source with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
