As I watched the news reports about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I found myself thinking of my former students who had friends and family in Tohoku, the northeast prefectures, pouring my heart into haiku.
"I was filled with a great sadness which stayed with me and was made all the deeper by the sound of a temple bell we heard that evening on Shiogama shore." —From Basho's Oku-no-Hosomichi, "Journey to the Far North."
Tohoku earthquake.
Let there be a bell left on
Shiogama shore.***
Like Murasaki,
wipe tears with our sleeves.
Shining Genji gone.***
After Kamo-no-Chomei:
A ten foot square hut.
The flowing water of this life.
Some foam swirling by.***
After Kakinomoto Hitomaro:
In Omi towered
the mighty royal palace,
now passing ruins.
© March 2011 Frederick Glaysher