Haiku by Yuka Yamagishi (山岸由佳)

crocus
I don’t really know you
that well

クロッカスあなたのことはよく知らない

inside the cherry tree in leaf
wings warming up

葉桜のなか温めてゐる翼

the afterimage of birds
at the water’s edge
cherry blossoms in bloom

みづぎはの鳥の残像桜咲く

one by one
like small stones
soap bubbles

つぎつぎと小石のやうなしやぼん玉

full moon:
the shoals keep spitting sand

満月の浅瀬は砂を吐きつづけ

birds migrating
deep within the forest
of myself

鳥帰るわたくしといふ森の奥

summer solstice night:
holding the plastic umbrella
between my legs

夏至の夜のビニール傘を股挟み

always September
for the little bird
in the mosaic . . .

モザイクの小鳥のいつも九月かな

in the forest
of firefly lights, my heart
getting bigger

蛍火の森の大きくなり心臓

no one crossing
to the other shore
. . . fireflies

対岸へ誰も渡らぬ蛍かな

in the chain-link fence
the sound of winter
and the sea

金網に冬の音あり海のあり

perched like a bird
in front of the painting
spring chill

鳥のやうに止まる絵の前春寒し

coins passing
from hand to hand
firefly night

手から手へ硬貨ながるる蛍の夜

pushing the warehouse door
with my shoulder
red winter leaves

肩で押す倉庫の扉冬紅葉

Photo from the Gendai Haiku Association

Yuka Yamagishi (b. 1977) won the 33rd Gendai Haiku Association New Face Award in 2015. In 2009, she joined the Enkan Haiku Group and studied under its president, Kanta Ishi. In 2012, she won the Enkan Newcomer Award, and she won the Enkan Prize the following year. She also joined Mame-no-Ki in 2012. Yamagishi’s first collection of haiku, Joubu na Kami (Durable Paper [丈夫な紙]), was released in 2022.

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