Connie’s Reviews > The Poetry of Chiyo-ni: The Life and Art of Japan's Most Celebrated Woman Haiku Master > Status Update

the moon's shadow
also pauses—
cherry-blossom dawn

月影も
たたずむや花の
あさぼらけ

tsukikage mo
tatazumu ya hana no
asaborake

green grass—
between, between the blades
the color of the water

若くさや
きれまきれまに
水のいろ

wakakusa ya
kirema kirema ni
mizu no iro

plum flower scent—
where has the snow woman's
ghost blown to?

梅が香や
何所へ吹かるる
雪女

ume ga ka ya
doko e fukaruru
yuki onna

compassion instead of revenge

to the one breaking it—
the fragrance
of the plum

手折らるる
人に薫るや
梅の花

taoraruru
hito ni kaoru ya
ume no hana

to be in a world
eating white rice
amid plum fragrance

梅が香に
白き飯くふ
世なりけり

ume ga ka ni
shiroki meshi kū
yo nari keri

butterfly—
what's it dreaming
fanning its wings?

蝶々や
何を夢見て
羽つかい

chōchō ya
nani o yume mite
hane tsukai

Note: This is a reference to a classical Chinese poetry from Chuang Tzu, the Taoist philosopher (ca. 300 B.C.) who wondered if he were a man dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was a man.

a butterfly
in front and back
of the woman's path

蝶々や
をなごの道の
跡や先

chōchō ya
onago no michi no
ato ya saki

Note: Traditionally, the butterfly in East Asia is often a symbol for women. Chiyo-ni frequently used this image to create a delicate, sensual feeling. Michi (path) could be literal as well as figurative, as a life path.

morning and evening
the dew swells
on the buds

朝夕に
雫のふとる
このめ哉

asa yū ni
shizuku no futoru
konome kana

woman's desire
deeply rooted—
the wild violets

根を付て
女子の欲や
菫草

ne o tsukete
onago no yoku ya
sumire-sō

to tangle or untangle
the willow—
it's up to the wind

結ふう
解ふと風の
やなぎかな

musubō to
tokō to kaze no
yanagi kana