Haiku by Shirao

The First Day of the Year;
Under the protection of a big tree,
People’s hearts are at rest.

The long chin performer!
It is New Year's Day!

The sound of a flute,
On a moonlit night
of mid-January.

Already in February!
Scattered soot
in my kitchen.

A rainy night
Of the Doll’s Festival;
Only the smell of candles.

The spring wind;
A hire hand
Is scattering ash.

Yearning fills my heart
When the candles are lit;
Cherry blossom fall.

A butterfly
Is floating
Above the cleaned up sink.

Calamus bath water:
Leaves of the calamus coming
Close to my nipple.

Making a sound,
The camellia fell
On the tatami mat.

In the dark garden
Of the night,
The peony remains quiet.

Among the grasses
Of passing autumn,
the stream hides itself.

To the setting sun
The scarecrow's face
Is indifferent.


*The Doll's Festival is an annual event for girls held on March 3, when people wish little girls will be happy and grow healthily.

*Japanese would often take a bath with leaves of a calamus floated on bath water on May 5, the day of the Boy's Festival, so as to exercise a kind of exorcism.