Summer Nature Poems

ZEN DEATH HAIKU XII

These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku. 

The snow melts
the rivers rise
and the village is flooded with children!...

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ZEN DEATH HAIKU X

These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku. 

Forbearing the night
with its growing brilliance: 
the summer moon.
—Tsukioka Yooshi (1839-1892)...

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ZEN DEATH HAIKU VI

These are my modern English translations of Japanese Zen Death Haiku. 

Cooling the pitiless sun's
bright red flames: 
autumn wind.
—Matsuo Basho, loose translation/interpretation...

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ZEN DEATH HAIKU III

*** Haiku translations added 6-3-2023 ***

Spring
stirs the clouds
in the sky's teabowl
—Kikusha-ni, loose translation by Michael R. Burch

Tonight I saw
how the peony crumples
in...

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Big fruit in the sky 
Beautifully hanging high 
Harvest drawing nigh 
Deep passions coming alive 
Reaping all the benefits...

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The valley between the windy trees
Across the street from me.
I sit below the pines
to evade the busy strip.
The yard and the distant billowing trees
Provide me...

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I was an artistic, floral designer, intoxicated by the sweet-smelling blooms,
Like magenta butterfly swarms, at a standstill, intoxicated by floral fumes.

Gold days were full of...

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Summer in the Park


Under the sky the lovers know. 
Long gone the cold of winters snow. 
The children’s laughter is so gay. 
In the sun...

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Pond


I sit by a pond near a river. 
The moon glistening like a river of light. 
The crickets call to the lovers. 
Walking beneath the...

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Soft streak of lightning 
puffed up with a Summer flex,
clouds bow to it’s heat....

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in the midst of death-
                    ...

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Are you the butterfly
while in my dreams
I flit after Soshi?
—Basho, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

It's not at all anxious to bloom,
the plum tree at...

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Mid-Summer Rain

The warm sun rises
to take the fleeting life
of the morning dew.

The blazing sun makes
the red horizon laugh
by spreading its
dazzling white radiance.

The sizzling sun bathes
the...

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I was a pleasant, conscientious librarian, whose world consisted of books,
As a world of fragrant beauty, can be found in the glossy, honeyed nooks.

Although it...

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Misty morn
By Michelle Morris 
16/09/2021 

The daisies are still asleep
as I embrace the misty morn;
Squirrel hopping a beat
across the dewy lawn.

Butterflies so daintily
visiting each daisy...

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