In the park
the ginkgoes, male
and female, separated
by the path, are putting
on their leaves.
Soon the squirrels,
eternal voyeurs,
will gather
on their branches
to watch them mating.
ginkgo
THREE
Ginkgo trees laden
with leaves fanning the dawn sun
Seeds lie in waiting
The morning bell sounds
the monks pause from their labors
Buddha sits zazen
The wall does not move
only the breath is moving
count it carefully
SEASONINGS (HAIKU)
above only sky
beneath only dark gray clouds
the sun is content
a mountain of clouds
rises from white tufted bed
the earth is watered
in winter’s icy chill
ripples from autumn’s pebble
await the spring sun
the leafless ginkgo
taunts the first snow of winter
with the dream of spring
NI HAIKU 二俳句
a great blue heron
watches the morning sun rise
ginkgos awaken
newly hatched goslings
watching the trees take flower
imagine summer
大な青い鷺
朝の太陽を見る
イチョウ覚醒
孵化した新芽
木の花を見て
夏の夢
(daina aoi sagi
Asa no taiyō o miru
Ichō kakusei
Fuka shita shinme
Ki no hana o mite
Natsu no yume)
THREE TOKYO SCENES
Scene I
Just off Shinjukuchuokoen North,
nestled in the courtyard
of the Green Tower, hides
Jyoufuji Temple, serene
in the first light of morning,
the sun dancing off the ceremonial
bell its striker poised, as if
waiting to catch the wind
and to it sing its resonant song.
Inside, the prayer mats await
the first supplicants of the day
below the sandalwood alter
and above it all, behind
the gossamer curtain, sitting lotus
Buddha smiles at the oneness.
Scene IV
In the small yard
of the matchbox house
the lone Ginkgo,
twisted by time,
feels the barrenness
of winter’s tongue
and mourns
its solitude.
Scene X
The ancient trees are twisted
and gnarled, clinging
to the small band of soil.
They lean as if to hear
some whispered word,
held in place by the braces
fashioned carefully,
their trunks wrapped in bark
tied neatly with twice,
to sooth against the chafe
of the brace, of the
unrelenting wind.