Japanese original:
sensou ga rouka no oku ni tatteita
English Translation:
deep in the corridor war was standing
Hakusen Watanabe
Commentary: I grew up in an old Japanese style house. There was a long external corridor. It had no sliding glass doors along it, and we had to close wood storm shutters after sunset. It looked like a long dark hole. I can visualize the image Watanabe (1913-1969) presents. I feel the poet’s fear. Something terrible like war should not enter one’s house which is supposed to be a safe harbor. Watahabe’s haiku is categorized as “juugo haiku” (home-front haiku). During WWII, various cities in Japan and Europe were bombed. Many civilians lost their lives. You don’t have to be Japanese to understand this haiku. War changes everyone’s life.
-- excerpted from To the Lighthouse: "Reflections on First-Person Experience in War Haiku" by Fay Aoyagi
Note: Watanabe's gendai haiku reminds me of the following one written by his contemporary poet, which could be read as a sequel:
war dead
exit out of a blue mathematics
-- Sugimura Seirinshi (trans. by Richard Gilbert and Ito Yuki)
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