A Timeless Burden

Commenting on a haiku by Réka Nyitrai, published on Luca’s Lily Pad #16 (myhaikupond.com) on March 4, 2019.

they too
are gaining weight…
ice covered trees

This haiku by Réka Nyitrai is a valuable and highly evocative piece of work set in a winter environment (fuyu 冬) that appears to be desolate (kareta 枯れた) and melancholic (according to the aesthetics of wabi-sabi 侘寂), revealing instead an strong connection between the author and the surrounding nature.

In fact, while the ‘icy trees’ in line 2 –deprived of their foliage– do not really change their real weight, the poet seems to feel an intimate burden that keeps growing and reverberating its effects outside her physical sphere. This is made particularly clear by the presence of the ‘too’ adverb (mo も) in the first line, which serves as a pivoting word in the overall economy of the poem. Leggi tutto “A Timeless Burden”

Classic Haiku: A Selection

A selection of ten haiku from My Haiku Pond Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MyHaikuPond), translated by Luca Cenisi.

名月や雪踏み分けて石の音
meigetsu ya yuki fumiwakete ishi no oto

harvest moon–
pushing through the snow,
a stone noise

luna d’autunno –
attraversando la neve,
un rumore di pietra

Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703-1775)

暖簾の奥ものふかし北の梅
nōren no oku monofukashi kita no ume

the emptiness
beyond the curtain–
northern plum flowers

il vuoto
oltre la tendina –
pruni del Nord

Shiba Sonome (1664-1726) Leggi tutto “Classic Haiku: A Selection”