World glittering
in the diamond dust
first sunrise
Your footsteps fadingAfter the busy and bustling end of the year, January the first is a special day for every Japanese. The world appears new and fresh in the first sunrise. All is calm. Wishing to keep this peaceful feeling through the year, people seem to do things with care. Children are asked to behave well, so that they will not disturb the calmness of the world. People who have their own worries pretend to be happy so that good luck will not run away from them. Even old enemies stop fighting.
Last night's snow is shining in the sun, brightening the city. The streets which were thronged with people shopping for Oshogatsu (the New Year) are deserted. Snow is white on the pavement, cleansing the way for the New Year.
If the temperature goes down very low during the night, perhaps under minus 20Co, the vapor in the air freezes to form very fine particles of ice. These ice particles in the air shine and glitter in the sun, to create the phenomenon of the diamond dust.
In the city where I live, temperatures do not drop low enough to see the diamond dust in the New Year season. But in the places farther north the diamond dust can be seen. TV news and newspapers report this as a seasonal message from Mother Nature.
Although this haiku is not based on my actual experience, I hope my feeling toward the New Year is expressed. The first day of the year should be pure and bright. Coldness is associated with snow and ice, which evokes the feeling of purity and brightness. The image of the diamond dust is well fitted to the image of the New Year.
Your footsteps fading
outside the door
snow falls obstinately
Wounded fingertipMost depressing for me is the snowy, dark February day. Cold days last even after the first day of spring. It snows all day long or even for two or three days without stopping. When it snows very heavily, I have to shovel the snow out of the driveway many times a day. Dry powdery snow completely erases every mark on the snow.
Heaps of snow around the house absorb almost all sounds. Even if I try to listen carefully, I cannot pick up either footsteps or the noises of cars running on the street. Yet strange to say, I can hear snow falling. The soundless sound of falling snow gives me some sort of sense of weight. Listening to it, or I would rather say, feeling the pressure of falling snow on my skin, I feel as if I were secluded from the outer world, wrapped up in a cocoon. The strange and ambivalent feeling of seclusion and security makes me hungry for some companionship.
Spring is always hesitant to come in this northernmost country, which irritates me. During the month of February I wait for spring, my reserved companion, to come quickly.
If such a tedious and lonely mood can be read between these lines, then this haiku is a success.
Wounded fingertip
burning
rose petals red and sleek
I have several kinds of rose bushes in my backyard. It is necessary to take good care of them, if I want to have beautiful blooms during the summer. Good fertilizer, watering, disinfection--it takes a lot of time and labor from early spring. That is why I love roses all the more. Your affection deepens according to the amount of time and care you take, as Le Petit Prince says. Sometimes I am hurt by their thorns, even though I am very careful. People often say, "Be careful. Beautiful roses have thorns."
The first blooms of the year are so precious and dear to me that I hesitate to pick them. Finally I choose one and pick. I am so happy with the first bloom that I do not notice I was pricked by a thorn. It is later that I feel my fingertip burning. For their part, roses never intend to do anything wrong. The thorn pricks me in spite of itself, just as a casual word does. Roses may have some similarity with human beings.
Although I forget the pain in my finger in a while, the experience in my backyard, blended with other experiences, is creating a new world of image. This haiku is, so to speak, a snapshot of my daily life.