月岡芳年　「世尊寺の月　少将義孝」

A flying squirrel

Haiku is made with 5 letters-7 letters-5 letters.

One season word should be included in a haiku.

Well, I think that the basics of writing a haiku are the above two points.

Musasabiya(5) chichinoieniwa(7) chichinohon(5) bluesky2020

(translation) There are lots of my father’s books in his mountain villa. Flying squirrels live in its forest.

Musasabi (flying squirrel) is a season word (winter).

The above is my work and published in a haiku almanac.

Musasabi is known for spreading the membranes of the extremities and gliding.

I made it when I found Musasabi in the forest of Karuizawa. Now that my father is deceased, it's a nostalgic haiku for me.

The passage of time is so fast.

Haiku in English/ Something like Haiku Poems

I have written haiku in Japanese. I wish I could write a similar poem in English.

My goal is to create something like haiku in English.

Of course, I'm not aiming for an English translation of haiku.

Well, that's why I decided to write something like haiku in English without any particular rules.

First work:

The flowers you gave me became a forest bluesky2020

Hmm.

There is no season word. It's a seasonless haiku. I think seasonless haiku is also fine.

If I stick to a season word:

The flowers you gave me became a spring forest bluesky2020

It will be spring.

How is it? Is it better than seasonless?

The lilies you gave me became a forest bluesky2020

If you set the flowers to lilies, it will be a summer haiku because Yuri(lily) is a summer season word.

Rose instead of lily came to my mind, but I don't think it fits with the forest.

Come to think of it, in the world of Japanese poetry, "flower" means cherry blossom.

I think English "flowers" also might be regarded as spring word.

For English haiku I decided not to think about season words so tightly, but it's strange I still like to stick to season words.

Make and erase, make and erase. Polishing up is the real pleasure of haiku.

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