SHU NISHIGAKI (1919 --1978)

HAIKU FROM MATSUYAMA OLD TIME HIGH SCHOOL DAYS

during the day no sign of life at a smithy ---wisterias
( hitoke naki kajiba no hiru wo fuji no hana )

going across the summer fields my shade clings to my feet
( natsu no yuku waga kage ashi ni matoitsuku )

shining oars with high strokes --- the sea in broad day
( picchi agete hikaru ohru yo umi mahiru )

to a fly around on the cheek of the Passion --- the setting sun
( yaso no e no hohbe no hae ni yuhhi kana )

���� scooping water for gargling, a watermelon just sways
( ugaimizu kume ba suika wa yureni keri )

�������������� �������������������� ���������� I wipe my glasses
( sawayaka ni sora utsushi tsutsu megane fuku )

sweet flavored milk at the pasture --- the Milky Way
( ka no takaki makiba no chichi yo amanogawa )

fingers picking flowers of cosmos have been chilled
( kosumosu no hana tsumu yubi no hiete ishi )

cosmoses were the flowers along the path on that day
( kosumosu wa kano hi no michi no hana narishi )

'two haikus at Gunchu'
ryohtei restaurant near the sea --- quietly bloom Fatsia japanicas
( umi chikaki ryohtei hisoto hana yatsude )

the color of sand is that of late autumn --- stepping on
( banshuh no suna no iro nari fumite yuku )

in Indian summer I'm thinking of only what is far
( koharubi no kokoro harokeki koto bakari )

'departure to the front'
going to the front the man never blinks his big eyes in the winter sun
( iku hito no fuyubi ni ohki me matataka nu )