Butterfly Dream: Mother's Death Haiku by Charlotte Digregorio

English Original

after Mother's death ...

standing in autumn wind

among the pines

Frogpond, 46:2, Spring/Summer 2023

Charlotte Digregorio

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

母親過世後 ...

在松林之間

佇立於秋風中

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

母亲过世后 ...

在松林之间

伫立于秋风中

Bio Sketch

Charlotte Digregorio curates The Daily Haiku Special with poets from sixty-one countries on her blog. She is the author of nine books, including Wondrous Instruction and Advice from Global Poets: How to Write and Publish Moving Poems and Books and Publicize Like a Pro; Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All; and Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing. Her books are also adopted as texts and supplemental texts by university English departments.

Butterfly Dream: Stubble Haiku by Winona Baker

English Original

in the stubble

a ball of blue wool

unwinds in the wind

An Invisible Accordion, 1995

Winona Baker 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在茬地裡

一團藍色的羊毛

在風中舒展開來

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在茬地里

一团蓝色的羊毛

在风中舒展开来

Bio Sketch

Winona Baker was born in March 18, 1924 and moved to British Columbia, Canada in 1930. Living in Nanaimo, she raised four children with her husban. A haiku specialist, she received the top global prize in the 1989 World Haiku Contest in honour of Matsuo Basho’s 300th anniversary. She published Moss-Hung Trees. The title came from her prize-winning haiku. Her work had been translated into Japanese, French, Greek, Croatian, Romanian, and Yugoslavian.  She passed away in Nanaimo on October 23, 2020.

Butterfly Dream: Heavy Packages Haiku by Patricia Donegan

English Original

I lay down

all my heavy packages

autumn moon

Haikun Studio, 1991

Patricia Donegan 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我放下

所有的重物

秋月

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我放下

所有的重物

秋月

Bio Sketch

Patricia Donegan (1945 -- 2023) led a life of creative exploration, meditation, writing, translating and teaching haiku, and teaching haiku. Three of her most famous books of haiku Love Haiku: Japanese Poems of Yearning, Passion & Remembrance (co-translated with Yoshie Ishibashi), Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart, and Chiyo-ni Woman Haiku Master (co-translated with Yoshie Ishibashi). In 2017 she was named the honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives.

Butterfly Dream: Autumn Gale Haiku by Djurdja Vukelić Rožić

English Original

autumn gale

whatever direction

I go

World Haiku Series,  2019

Djurdja Vukelić Rožić 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

秋風

無論往哪個方向走

我開始行進

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

秋风

无论往哪个方向走

我开始行进

Bio Sketch

Djurdja Vukelic Rozic  was born on April 6, 1956, and now lives in Ivanić Grad, Croatia.  Editor in chief of bilingual haiku magazine IRIS, and deputy editor for haiku at Diogen pro cultura magazine, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She publishes humorous sketches, short stories, and poetry. For her work she received a number of awards and commendations in Croatia and abroad.

Butterfly Dream: Autumn Clouds Haiku by Rachel Sutcliffe

English Original

wild mushrooms

all the shades

of autumn clouds

tinywords, October 27 2014

Rachel Sutcliffe

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

野生菇

秋天雲朵的

種種色彩

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

野生菇

秋天云朵的

种种色彩

Bio Sketch

Rachel Sutcliffe had suffered from a serious immune disorder for over 16 years; throughout  this time writing had been her therapy, and it kept her from going insane! She was an active member of the British Haiku Society and has been published in various journals including  Prune Juice, Failed Haiku and Hedgerow.

One Man's Maple Moon: Evening of Life Tanka by Fumi Saito

English Original

a husband paralyzed

my old mother blind

on both sides

this evening of life

I enter autumn

White Letter Poems, 1998

Fumi Saito

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

丈夫癱瘓了

老母親雙眼失明

雙方親戚都是如此

生命的這個夜晚

我步入秋天

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

丈夫瘫痪了

老母亲双眼失明

双方亲戚都是如此

生命的这个夜晚

我步入秋天

 

 

Bio Sketch

Daughter of a military officer who was noted for his verse-writing talent, Fumi Saito began writing poetry in the traditional 31-syllable tanka form in her early teens. Her first book of tanka, Fish Songs, published in 1940, immediately established her as a brilliant young poet. She was inducted into the Japan Art Academy in 1993 and invited to serve as meshiudo (a position similar to the Poet Laureate's) at the Imperial Palace in 1997.

Biting NOT Barking: Explosion and Echo Haiku by Natalia Kuznetsova

English Original

explosion

of autumn colours ...

echo of war

 

Under the Basho Journal, 2022

Natalia Kuznetsova

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

短暫卻又絢爛

的秋色 ...

戰爭的迴響

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

短暂却又绚烂

的秋色 ...

战争的回响

Bio Sketch

Living in Moscow, Russia, Natalia Kuznetsova is a teacher of English and freelance interpreter. Before discovering the haiku world, she wrote poetry in Russian. She started writing tanka and mostly haiku in English in 2007, and participated in numerous competitions worldwide and won some awards. She contributes regularly to World Haiku Review, Asahi Haikuist Network, Daily Haiku, Poetry Pea and other traditional and on-line publications. She was included on the list of "European Top 100 Most Creative Haiku Authors" from 2010 to 2023.

Butterfly Dream: Swirling Leaves Haiku by Milan Rajkumar

English Original

swirling leaves --

the rattle of an old typewriter

Under the Bashõ , 2020

Milan Rajkumar

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

飛舞的落葉 --

老式打字機的嘎嘎聲

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

飞舞的落叶 --

老式打字机的嘎嘎声

Bio Sketch

Milan Rajkumar is a  secondary school teacher who teaches economics while writing haiku. He lives in a corner of the north eastern India. Genetically a mongoloid by look and food, he speaks a Tibeto-Burman language known as 'Manipuri' ‘Meiteilon.’  Writing is his passion since childhood. Nowadays he writes haiku every day and night.

Butterfly Dream: Toothless Grin Haiku by Elliot Nicely

English Original

dentist office window:

the jack-o'-lantern's

toothless grin

Frogpond,  36:1, Winter 2013

Elliot Nicely

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

牙醫診所的窗戶：

一盞南瓜燈

的無齒笑容

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

牙医诊所的窗户：

一盏南瓜灯

的无齿笑容

Bio Sketch

Elliot Nicely is the author of The Black Between Stars (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2017) and Tangled  Shadows: Senryu and Haiku (Rosenberry Books, 2013). He resides in Lakewood, Ohio.

Butterfly Dream: Moving Van Haiku by Cor van den Heuvel

English Original

falling leaves

a moving van

next door

At the Top of the Ferris Wheel, 2017

Cor van den Heuvel 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

樹葉飄落

一輛搬家車

停在隔壁

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

树叶飘落

一辆搬家车

停在隔壁

Bio Sketch 

Cor van den Heuvel (March 16, 1931 - September 12, 2024) authored hundreds of haiku and haibun, including one of the most controversial works of the 20th century, one-word haiku: tundra. In addition to more than a dozen collections, he edited or co-edited a number of influential anthologies, most notably three editions of The Haiku Anthology, as well as Baseball Haiku. He also won three Merit Book Awards from the Haiku Society of America, a World Haiku Achievement Award at the World Haiku Festival, and the Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Prize. 

Poetic Musings: Leaf Pile Haiku by Scott Mason

leaf pile raker

leaf pile kicker

two autumns

   

Third Place, 2016 Porad Haiku Award 

            

Scott Mason

               

Commentary: Thematically and structurally speaking, Scott's haiku alludes to the following one:

I go

      you stay --

two autumns 

Masaoka Shiki (often wrongly attributed to Yosa Buson)

It's easy for readers, who have front yards/gardens or backyards needed to be cleaned up fallen leaves and blossoms during autumn, to visualize this scene: Dad is out to rake leaves/L1,  while his kid(s) follow(s) behind, kicking through the leaf pile/L2 and scattering the leaves to the autumn wind.

And as time continues to move forward, the next autumn will eventually arrive/L3. The same things, raking and kicking leaves/Ls 1&2, will happen again.

Here is my response/much serious😓 haiku:

rounds of shovelling snow,

                rounds of clearing windrows ...

two blizzard dumps

FYI: CBC News, Feb. 17: Toronto, Montreal tackle towering snow piles after back-to-back storms

Butterfly Dream: Another Autumn Haiku by Fatma Zohra Habis

English Original 

another autumn ...

father's garden seat still 

creaking 

Fivefleas, October 27 2024

Fatma Zohra Habis

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

又一個秋天到來 ...

父親的花園座位仍然

吱吱作響

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

又一个秋天到来 ...

父亲的花园座位仍然

吱吱作响

 

Bio Sketch

Fatma Zohra Habis lives in Algeria. She loves poetry and Japanese culture. Her specialty is physics. Her haiku and tanka have been published in journals around the world, such as Enchanted Garden, The Sacred Dragonfly, The Leaf Journal, and haikuKatha.

Butterfly Dream: Out of Court Haiku by Elmedin Kadric

English Original

fall leaves

they, too, settle

out of court

rust, 2023

Elmedin Kadric 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

秋天的樹葉

他們也在法庭外

安定下來

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

秋天的树叶

他们也在法庭外

安定下来

Bio Sketch

Elmedin Kadric was born in Novi Pazar, Serbia, but writes out of Helsingborg, Sweden. His first collection, buying time (2017), was published by Red Moon Press.

Poetic Musings: Autumn Rain Tanka by Dick Whyte

autumn rain

the coat I haven’t

worn in

over a year

still smells of her

Twenty Years Tanka Splendor, 2009

                                     

Dick Whyte 

Commentary: Dick Whyte’s tanka speaks of smells from the past, from memory. Yet there are smells of the present-day in this – the autumn rain, and a coat that is likely infused with its own slightly musty smell from not being used. The suggestion of these scents adds a deeper level of meaning to this tanka.

-- excerpted from "To the Lighthouse: Sensing Tanka: Perceiving Life Beyond the Ordinary"  by David Terelinck

FYI: The following tanka could be read as a sequel to Dick's:

thick coat                                       

hanging like fur ...                           

is it

the autumn wind                  

or the future that chills you   

Moments from Red Hill, 2013

Paul Williamson

One Man's Maple Moon: Shanties Tanka by Robert D. Wilson

English Original

I listen

to autumn speak

through waves ...

thinking of young girls

birthing in shanties

Jack Fruit Moon, 2009

Robert D. Wilson

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

透過一波波海浪

我傾聽

秋天的細語

想念著年輕的女孩

在棚戶區分娩

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

透过一波波海浪

我倾听

秋天细语

想念着年轻的女孩

在棚户区分娩

Bio Sketch

Robert D. Wilson is Co-Owner of Simply Haiku.

Poetic Musings: Blue Jazz Haiku by Richard Wright

From a tenement,

The blue jazz of a trumpet

Weaving autumn mists.

Haiku: This Other World, 1998

Richard Wright

Commentary: Richard Wright uses images skillfully in his haiku to produce a montage effect for the reader to sense the interaction between nature and human. This haiku focuses on the essence of a moment when non-human nature is connected to human nature through the interaction between visual and auditory images. The poet not only literally hears the sound of a trumpet but sees it weaving autumn mists in his imagination as well. He creates an intangible quality of peaceful atmosphere and mood with tangible words in this haiku and thus challenges the reader to appreciate it aesthetically based on the interaction of the senses... excerpted from Sensibility to Nature in Richard Wright's Haiku

One Man's Maple Moon: October's Woods Tanka by Kirsty Karkow

English Original

darkly golden

through October’s woods

a small stream

catches then carries

lost leaves to the sea

Shorelines, 2007

Kirsty Karkow

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

暗金色

的一條小溪

穿過十月的樹林

接住然後攜帶

一片片落葉進入大海

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

暗金色

的一条小溪

穿过十月的树林

接住然后携带

一片片落叶进入大海

Bio Sketch

Kirsty Karkow lived in Waldoboro, Maine, where she wrote haiku, sijo, tanka, and other short forms. Lyrical, poignant, and spare, her poetry reflected a rich and deep sense of place and spirit. Her haiku have won the Mainichi and the R.H Blyth Award and placed in other contests. And she had two best-selling books in print: water poems: haiku, tanka and sijo and shorelines: haiku, haibun and tanka , published by Black Cat Press.

Poetic Musings: Forty-Odd Autumns Haiku by Michele Root-Bernstein

he digs

            I daffodil

forty-odd autumns

Kingfisher, 7, 2023

Michele Root-Bernstein  

Commentary: Structurally and syntactically speaking, Nichele's haiku alludes to the following haiku about the departure of friends:

I go

      you stay --

two autumns 

Masaoka Shiki (often wrongly attributed to Yosa Buson)

Thematically speaking, L3 makes this seasonal activity described in Ls 1&2 an intimate, decades-long bonding between a couple. And this denominal verb, daffodil, fresh and natural, fits smoothly with the verb in L1,"digs," and it is layered with multiple meanings: the speaker is plopping daffodil bulbs into the holes that her partner is digging or she is "flowering" in some way...

For more examples about denominalization, a practice of using a noun as a verb, see To the Lighthouse, Denominalization

Butterfly Dream: Autumn Trail Haiku by George Dorsty

English Original

making way

for others

-- autumn trail

Making Way, 2004

George Dorsty 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

讓路

給他人

-- 秋天小徑

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

让路

给他人

-- 秋天小径

Translation resul

Bio Sketch

George Dorsty was an esteemed English teacher and a published poet, preferring the sensibility and deceptive complexity of Japanese Haiku. He published four works of his own, the last being the collection, the birds sing anyway, in 2019. 

Butterfly Dream: Late Autumn Haiku by Rachel Sutcliffe

English Original

shorter days

autumn deepens

underfoot

Beyond Words, 2018

Rachel Sutcliffe

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

較短的日子

腳下的秋意

漸濃

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

较短的日子

脚下的秋意

渐浓

 

 

Bio Sketch

Rachel Sutcliffe had suffered from a serious immune disorder for over 16 years; throughout  this time writing had been her therapy, and it kept her from going insane! She was an active member of the British Haiku Society and has been published in various journals including  Prune Juice, Failed Haiku and Hedgerow.