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Haiku
@whitehaiku.bsky.social
Haiku 俳句 and other tales of our floating world 浮世.
#haiku #poetry #ukiyo #Japan #Asia #photography #art #breathing
saw the country
and returned—now deep at night
I lie in bed and
fields of mustard flowers
bloom before my eyes

Masaoka Shiki | Sulav Shrestha
#tanka #Japan
May 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Today’s begging is finished;
at the crossroads
I wander by the side of hachiman shrine talking with some children.

Last year, a foolish monk;
this year, no change!

Ryōkan Taigu
#poetry #Japan
May 12, 2025 at 11:38 AM
In this world
love has no color
yet how deeply
my body
is stained by yours.

Izumi Shikibu | Shima Seien
Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan
#waka #poetry #Japan
April 11, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Her hair at twenty
Flowing long and black
Through the teeth of her comb
Oh beautiful spring
Extravagant spring!

Akiko Yosano | Hashiguchi Goyō
#Tanka #Japan
April 9, 2025 at 1:37 PM
When no bell rings
What do the villagers do,
— Spring Nightfall

Matsuo Bashō | Takahashi Shotei
#haiku #spring #Japan
March 17, 2025 at 10:41 PM
After washing and dressing,
she leans alone by the river tower,
a thousand sails pass by, but none are his.

Wen Tingyun | Zhang Daqian
Excerpt from "Dreaming of the South", translation: Witter Bynner
#poetry #China #TangDynasty
March 16, 2025 at 9:56 PM
John Launois | Geiko in Kyōto
#Japan #photography
March 16, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Spring rain falls gently,
A fishmonger’s lantern glows
Through the misty dusk.

Yosa Buson | Kōhō Shōda
#haiku #spring #Japan
March 14, 2025 at 5:29 PM
smooth cemetery stone
I run my fingers
across her lifetime

Jay Friedenberg | Henk Binnendijk
2017 Peggy Willis Lyles Award Winner #haiku #poetry
March 1, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Ice on the pond
the skate marks
like thoughts left behind

Bruce Ross #haiku #winter #poetry
February 14, 2025 at 2:50 PM
revealing
my true age
hotel mirror

Julie Bloss Kelsey | Francis James Mortimer
#haiku #poetry
February 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
one by one
even the cats come home
cold night

Issa Kobayashi | Shoda Koho
Translation: D. Lanoue
#haiku #Japan
February 4, 2025 at 9:12 PM
The snake and I
Live together in harmony
In the light of the moon

Kobayashi Issa | Dang Hiep
Translation: Robert Hass
#haiku #Japan #LunarNewYear
February 2, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Strange night
crouching fox
stalking a cool melon

Matsuo Bashō | Shoson Ohara
#haiku #Japan
January 30, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Yoshida Toshi | Tokyo, 1938
#art #Japan
January 25, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Winter moon —
the sound of wings
freezes too

Masaoka Shiki | Reiji Hiramatsu
Translation: Janine Beichman
#haiku #winter #Japan
January 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM
On the frozen pond
a duck stands alone,
in the evening’s cold.

Masaoka Shiki | Utagawa Hiroshige
Translation: Janine Beichman
#haiku #winter #Japan
January 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The winter river—
down it come floating
flowers offered to Buddha.

Yosa Buson | Kamisaka Sekka
#haiku #winter #Japan
January 19, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Kyoto | Henri Cartier-Bresson
#blackandwhite #photography #Japan
January 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
after the bell,
within the silence:
within myself

Nick Virgilio | Chester Ong
#haiku #poetry
January 15, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Even in Kyōto
hearing the cuckoo's cry
I long for Kyōto

Matsuo Bashō | John Launois
Translation : Robert Hass
#haiku #Japan #Kansai
January 10, 2025 at 9:49 AM
When the winter chrysanthemums go,
there’s nothing to write about
but radishes.

Matsuo Bashō | Iwasaki Tsunemasa
#haiku #winter #Japan
January 7, 2025 at 3:02 PM
in my teacup
the lone seed
of a lemon

Deborah White

From Failed Haiku, 2016, vol 1, issue 2. Hand-colored photo by unknown photographer, Late 19th century, Japan
#haiku #3lines #poetry
January 2, 2025 at 3:41 PM
first dream of the year—
I keep it a secret
and smile to myself

Sho-u (Translated by R.H. Blyth)
#haiku #Japan

2025: Happy new year!
January 1, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Another picture:
December 31, 2024 at 4:58 AM