Ben Rasmussen’s Reviews > Far Beyond the Field: Haiku by Japanese Women > Status Update

Haiku by Mayuzumi Madoka:

Mother’s Day—
I end up making
my mother cry

impelled to dream
Of soaring in the sky—
goldfish at night

pretending
not to have heard, I sip
a soda drink

watermelon is served,
ending the quarrel
between brothers

choosing a swimsuit—
when did his eyes
replace mine?

By Tsuji Momoko:

about you
it knows nothing—
a spring crab

with a man
at Kentucky Fried Chicken
I grieve spring’s departure

the butterfly—
its face is the same
as a caterpillar’s

Read thee selection of haiku by Kuroda Momoko tonight. More traditional style haiku. My two favorites:

while the one
peels a white peach
the other weeps

whispering
something to the rose
she cuts the rose

By Uda Kiyoko:

a scrap of iron—
without fail,
menfolk stop to look

beautifully
the cremation ends
before noon

dangling wisteria—
how could aging be this
beautiful?

mountain leeches too
have something to say—
let’s listen

By Inahata Teiko:

as if happiness
were waiting, the New
Year’s calendar

icefish—
their lives transparent
in the rippling water

By Tsuda Kiyoko:

not knowing
the height of the mountain
an ant crawls on my knee

flying across the dunes
a butterfly and a crow
each without company

by the moonlit ocean
bereft of song
a bird and I