May 16: Plum blossoms

grey morning

even a photo of plum blossoms

inspires poetry

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September 13: Translation

I spent this rainy afternoon working through a book I bought in Quebec City: a French translation of Japanese haiku by contemporary poet Mayuzumi Madoka. The book is arranged in four seasonal sections, with each haiku and its explication by the author on facing pages. I read through Spring and into Summer, fascinated by the nexus of several languages: the original Japanese, the French translation, my attempt to piece it together in English, and the universal poetic sensibility, which renders a good poem timeless in any language. It feels like a good exercise to play with words, image, and feelings in this way; I found myself longing for a retreat to submerge myself in this world for several days to see what might come out of it for my own poetry.

 

Here is my halting translation of one of her spring haiku:

 

Amplified

by the toll of the temple bell--

this spring twilight.

__

 

Rainy afternoon--

I can almost hear the fog horn

or a temple bell.

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April 4: Hokusai

Visited the new Hokusai exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts * with my parents today. A Japanese artist who worked into the mid-1800s, Hokusai is probably best known for his wood block prints, including the famous "Great Wave off Kanagawa." We spent hours at the show and emerged blinking into the fresh air of early spring.

 

Even Prussian blue waterfalls

will fade in time--

this floating world.

 

 

 

* Check it out: http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/hokusai

 

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February 10: Bean-Throwing

In my Beginner's Japanese class tonight we learned about Setsubun, the Bean-Throwing Cermony held as part of the annual Spring Festival on February 3, the eve of spring in Japan. The ritual, called mamemaki, is supposed to drive away evil spirits from the year ahead. There was no little irony in imitating the ritual with our teacher by tossing beans outside the door into three feet of snow. If only it were really the cusp of spring here.

 

What you say:

Oni wa soto (demons outside)

Fuku wa uchi (happiness inside)

 

Beans tossed into snow--

if only this ritual

could conjure spring.

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