淋しい幽霊いくつも壁を抜けるなり
So many lonely ghosts
Coming out of the walls
幽霊も鬱なるか傘さして立つ
Do ghosts get depressed too
Standing holding up umbrellas
これが君なるか払暁の泣き幽霊
Is that you
the ghost weeping
at dawn
東北やむかし出会ひし子持ち幽霊
In Tohoku —
Long ago I chanced to meet
a ghost with children
葬列や数人仰ぐ渡り鳥
Funeral procession
Several people look up
Migratory birds
軍隊が近づき春は来たりけり
The army approaches
Spring has arrived
NOTES: Yamakawa Semio was the pen-name of Takayanagi Shigenobu (1923-1983), used when he wrote haiku in vertical lines, according to this essay, which discusses the recurring ghosts in his poetry. The first four poems in this selection are taken from the same essay. The remaining poems are taken from the Gendai Haiku Association Database.
Entry No. 1 