6 April 2025 (a rainy morning)

a rainy morning

with Basho’s poetry

robin song

11 February 2019 (wasp nest)

wasp nest in winter

my neighbors

how do they get by

This is an homage of sorts to Basho, who wrote the following haiku (as translated by Sam Hamill) that has stuck with me: 

In this late autumn,

my next-door neighbor— 

how does he get by? 

Here’s another translation of the same haiku, by Jane Reichhold, which demonstrates the variation among translators: 

autumn deepens

so what does he do

the man next door

November 8: Willow

The 17th century Japanese poet Basho, considered by most to be the first haiku master, once told his students: “The old verse can be about willow. Haikai requires crows picking snails in a rice paddy.” 

*haikai refers to the popular poetic form of the time, renga, of which the opening stanza or hokku eventually evolved into the haiku

that old willow

dripping sap

all over my car

August 2: Thinking of Basho

One of the classic haiku poet Basho's most famous poems:

 

old pond--

frog jumps in

splashing sound

 

Here's my response, after spending the day at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens admiring the water lilies (and many frogs) in the small ponds they've crafted there:

 

shallow garden pond--

enough lily pads

to hold up all the frogs

 

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