winter rose
resting on the windowsill
sipping sake
*
before the petals
of last summer’s red rose
purple wisteria
*
counting the days
longing for springtime
planting rose seeds
Shiki, one of the four great masters of Japanese Haiku, upon noticing a vase of wisteria blossoms on his desk, exclaimed to himself, “What elegance, what loveliness!” and before he knew it, was recalling romantic tales of long ago. He became inspired to write. Here is translation of a tanka (5-line form) from his 10-Poem Sequence on Wisteria Blossoms:
if you stick the stems
in strong sake
the wilted flowers
of the the wisteria
will bloom again like new
