January 31, 2004

A tiny flowring kanenonaruki
Under the humble eves
Laughed away my poor wish
To expect,"By any chance...."

kane-no-naru-ki (could be literally translated as "a tree which bears golden coins"):Crassula portulacea

January 28, 2004

Turning a corner of the town
I met a twig of red blossom of ume
Which made me smile brightly
Just like before when I met you

January 27, 2004

Mitsumata waits looking down humbly
Planated in a pot in an alley
Not longing for mountains

mitsumata: Edgeworthia chrysantha Lindl.

January 26, 2004

aoki: Aucuba japonica

January 21, 2004

January 19, 2004

Dandelions are everywhere
Which humans don't know
The rootless creatures step
On the land fearlessly

January 18, 2004

あてどなく斑の雲に問いかける
「何故？」の消えゆく淡雪の朝

While I'm asking "why?"
To the mottled clouds in early morning
The frail snow is disappearing
With no answer

街路樹の根方で花弁塵芥を
浴びて開けば涙すくえり

A flower at the foot of a roadside tree
Blooms in dust and receives tears

January 15, 2004

一切の衣落とした椚の枝
虚空に求む手指にも似て

拡大版/enlarge

January 14, 2004

頭だけ残す新巻空風に
骨格標本見よと口開く

Only with heads left
Salmons are hung in dry blast
Demonstating their bone specimens
And cry, Look!

January 13, 2004

完熟の果実たわわに南国を
思う甲斐なく日の過ぎるさま

Ripe fruits remind me of a southern country
Days pass indifferent from my longing

清流に飛べよ白鷺街に降り
空堀川にただ一羽なり

Fly to a cleaner stream
You've landed on a town
In scanty water
A solitary egret!

細枝に蕾ふくらむ白梅は
乙女のむなち匂い微かに

Buds growing on the twigs of a white plum
Are in the subtle hue of a girl's breasts

ume (Japanese plum): prunus salicina lindley

January 7, 2004

セリナズナ念仏唱え釜茹での
刹那萌え立つみどり目に焼く

I grumble names of herbs before boiling
Their greenness flashes in my eyes

"Seri, nazuna, goyou, hakobera, hotokeno-za, suzuna, suzushiro (Oenanthe stolonifera--cicely, Capsella bursa-pastoris--shepherd's-purse, Gnaphalium affine, Stellaria neglecta, Lamium amplexicaule, Brassica rapa--turnip, Raphanus sativus--radish)" are considered to be the seven herbs of spring, good for health if eaten in stew with rice porridge on the seventh day of a new year.

January 6, 2004

カメリアはパラボラ型に宇宙線
浴びて悔いなく落ちてゆくやら

The camellia in the shape of parabola
Will bathe in cosmic rays and drop straight

tsubaki: Camellia japonica L.

January 5, 2004

鈍色にものみな沈む寒中に
千両の赤万両の紅

In dull colors of the coldest days
Are red of senryou, scarlet of manryou

"Senryou" literally means "a thousand pieces of gold" and "manryou" means "ten thousand pieces of gold." Both are often used for flower arrangement in new year days for their fortunate names and colors.

senryou: Sarcandra glabra
manryou: Ardisia crenata

初春の光待ちかね弾けたる
ろうばいという音の不可思議

Flowers sprang open impatiently for the new year's light
My wonder is to the sound of their name roubai

roubai : (Chimonanthus praecox f. concolor;) the name sounds like "unnerved" in Japanese. The small flowers look like the art of wax and thus its literal tranlation is "waxen Japanese plum."