Moon and Flowers

moon past full
the beginning of a little more
darkness
­                                                                hours until birds start singing
­                                                                echoing tick of the clock
moon and flowers
the stupidity pricked by a needle
entering the colder season
­                                                                even the pine trees shiver
­                                                                in the icing of moonlight
first frost
when mums start to feel chilly
I get a cotton waist warmer
­                                                                while anticipating snow
­                                                                toes toast by the open fire
slowly spring
is making an appearance
moon and plum
­                                                                fitting out naked branches
­                                                                with kimonos of blossom
a traveler’s heart
it also should look like
chinquapin flowers
­                                                                yellow petals on the breeze
­                                                                impatient to fly away
crane and feathers
in a black robe
clouds of flowers
­                                                                early moon has been eclipsed
­                                                                and the birds have stopped singing

Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)                    Kim M. Russell, 24^th February 2019

My response to Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #73 Renga With Basho

This weekend we have a Renga With Basho episode, in which we create a renga from six haiku written by Basho, all of which have been taken from Jane Reichhold’s Basho, The Complete Haiku.

We can choose the line-up, adding our two-lined stanzas and creating a ‘closed chain’ by referring back to the hokku (opening stanza) in the ageku (closing stanza).