Excerpts from the Heart Mountain Poetry Society
Selected by: Shisei
Translated by: Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
Published in: Haiku Volume 1
Selected by: Shisei
Translated by: Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda
Published in: Haiku Volume 1
Kawashima Hatsune
The morning dew in the flower garden, too, has grown lonesome!
The train departing in the morning chill, the frightening blue eye
Having become a dekasegi woman: the end of autumn1
The gladdening autumn: riding into the interior together in a horse drawn wagon
Having borne no flower, an autumn eggplant on the high plain
The luster of apples piled high on the table
Terada Batsuzan
A line of geese wrapped like a ribbon around the sky
A piano rhythm bursting forth: a pear flower
The small birds have all disappeared from the wide prairie
Tossed from hand to hand, the apple that finally lands in mine
Falling a little behind the group—dew on the road
Fujioka Saikō
Fluttering in the snow then taking flight: a small bird
Small white birds rising up all at once out of the sagebrush plains
Little birds circling about Heart Mountain, towering above the deep blue
On a winter’s morning, I think of my camp child
The grass burr, even spikier on the high plain
Sauki Ijō
A streak of cloud, spotless, the tall sky
The autumn butterfly—its beauty fills me with pity
And then there are days I think of the weariness of old age2
Settling into this makeshift room, lamenting the passing autumn
The morning chill, the mist hitting my cheek, the lakeside path
Hishiki Eiko
Above the hill, autumn clouds flying, crows flying—
House scattered here and there: between the mountains, apples ripening
Appearing on a sea of clouds, a small bird flying
Sadly clutching an apple, still wet from morning mist
Pressed like a board by the north wind—
Kinoshita Musei
Exiting the movie theatre, a rush of cold night
Folding my travel clothes—grass burrs!
Night falls—in the thick grove a small bird chirps
Hishiki Mukō
Cables crossing the canyons, autumn clouds
Slamming shut the gate with my shoulder, the chill of night
Strands of mist swirling together into one
Peeling an apple as light reflects off the far snowy peak
Kōzaki Chakin†
A particularly small bird approaches the cosmos flower
Tending the garden morning after morning: the cool dew
Fumbling around in my pocket for a match—a wild berry!
Fujioka Muin
A flock of birds, wings beating the ground as they rush up into the air
A sudden burst of wind, a little bird’s wing resembling an arrow
The mountain before me a flaming red: autumn clouds
A pup wagging its tail, grass burrs stuck to it—
The dirt path through the plateaus, drenched in dew
Inoue Midori
A little garden, a butterfly: a clear autumn day
A little grass burr stuck to the hem of my skirt
The morning star’s sharp light, the northern wind
Okada Sueo
Migrating birds fly overhead as I hurry to pick the field tomatoes
Now bereft of customers, the corner store’s beautiful apples
The giant buffalo shaking and spilling grass seed as they chew and chew
The trout flopping on the grass, spraying water droplets everywhere
Ozaki Kazue
Drops of dew rolling down the eggplant’s deep purple swell
A single apple being clutched by a little child
A bird sails through the crimson sky beyond Heart Mountain
Yamadera Kasumi
Having tilled the dewless fields of the plateaus—
The north wind whips through the night—by morning, all is quiet
Sparse green peppering the fields, a warm spell in autumn
Kaihatsu Sōjo†
The late autumn garden looking quite neglected—
At autumn’s end, my only comfort is debating
The moonlit path, my footsteps the only sound—
Tsuneishi Mutsuki†
A family of us poor farmers all digging for potatoes
Gathering weeds and flowers to decorate the mess hall
Arrived at Heart Mountain, a cold night
Horiuchi Wakako†
Here and there, a late patch of afternoon sun, mountains in winter
In the camp, a single chrysanthemum blooms
Morioka Matsui3
Memories of schoolhouse days, roasting sweet potatoes
Splotches of snow landing on my cloak, the night road
Kanai Tesshū†
Plumes of smoke in a clear blue sky, birds flying south
The passing autumn reflecting clouds, the stillness of the lake
Tonooka Hasen†
A girl’s high-pitched voice as she digs up a potato
A group of young students cheerily digging up potatoes
Tsuneishi Shisei
Tumbleweeds—here and there, red flickerings of little birds
A fresh crown of snow on the faraway mountain peak, a bright day
Reading that venerable Meiji songbird by lamplight in autumn
The rich blue sky, snow on a bright, clear day
The recently released mother chasing her child— late autumn
1 Dekasegi is a term used to refer to those who work away from home, or who must search for work outside the home.
2 Here the phrase 老の秋 conveys the double meaning of midlife, which is compared to autumn
3 Source says 松枝 (Matsue) but assumed to be an error for 松猪 (Matsui) given camp records.
What is the Heart Mountain Bungei? Learn about the story behind the poetry and prose of the collection, and the process of translating and interpreting the Bungei.