** All rights of the texts presented here remain with the author. The English translations were provided by the author himself and were only slightly edited for improvement purposes. ** haikuav
脅迫を極暑の夢と紛ひつつ
In the summer heat, the threat blends with a dream.
紅葉して千の澄瞳われを見る
The autumn leaves are like a thousand clear eyes looking at me.
蝉時雨アナクレオンの詩風かな
The sound of a swarm of cicadas: Anacreon's poetic style.
言霊は世界のものよ鰯雲
The spirit of language belongs to the world: a cloud looking like a school of sardines.
墓多き左岸をゆくや冷さまじき
Walking along the left bank, where there are many graves: the cold stings the skin.
廃炉へのほんの一歩や秋深し
A very small step towards decommissioning the nuclear power plant: late autumn.
臨界よ来るなと祈る夜長かな
The long night when I pray that the nuclear reactor will not reach criticality.
みささぎに踏む玉砂利や秋の声
Gravel on the steps of the mausoleum: the sound of autumn.
百条(ももすぢ)を巌に刻みて冬の滝
Water hollows out the rock and forms a hundred stripes of icicles: the winter waterfall.
麻痺の子ら集ふ小道や冬ぬくし
The children with paralysis gather in the path: warm winter.
海光の移ろふ丘や稲穂波
The sea light moves across the hills: the rice ears form waves.
蜩やわが四方の気をひた澄ます
The cicadas singing in the evening clear the air around me.
おもむろに冬日零るる墓石かな
The winter sun's rays gently spill over the gravestone.
奇岩灼けいよいよわれに憤るかな
The strange rock is burning with anger at me.
麻痺の身のあぐる奇声や今日の月
In response to tonight's full moon: the strange voice of a paralyzed me.
耳底のアウシュヴィッツや春の闇
Auschwitz in the depths of my ears: the darkness of spring.
冬立つや手足の硬さかなしめる
Winter has come: I grieve over the hardness of my limbs.
紅葉狩ぼちぼち行くか車椅子
Let's go and enjoy the autumn colours in a relaxed way: my wheelchair.
色変へぬ松やバナナのオブジェかな
The pine tree that never changes colour: next to it a banana-shaped object.
しみじみと物言ふごとき扇かな
A folding fan that looks like it's saying something with deep emotion.
夏薊踏まれても生む青き風
Even if the summer thistle is trodden on, it will still produce a blue-green wind.
車椅子に届く高さの通草かな
The akebi fruits hang down so that they can be reached by wheelchair users.
落人のごとく生きよと後の月
"Live like a fleeing warrior," says the full moon a month after the bright moon.
寒柝や銀河と銀河合流す
The sound of wooden clappers on a cold night: the galaxies merge together.
秋冷や裸婦像と遇ふ老詩人
An old poet meets a nude woman’s statue on a cool autumn day.
寒林や超絶技巧のバイオリン
Cold forest: a violin of superlative technique
夕立や原生林をけぶらせて
Summer evening rain: the primeval forest seems to be shrouded in smoke.
御馳走に醤油が無きと生身魂
"Without soy sauce, it's no feast," says the living soul.
手も足も固まりたるか終戦日
Hands and feet stiffen like stone: the anniversary of the end of the war.
人よりも鳥が好きよと案山子かな
"I like birds more than people," says the scarecrow.
若駒ら右往左往の初嵐
The young horses are running this way and that in the first autumn storm.
秋深しその青空へワープする
Deep autumn: I will warp to that blue sky.
狛犬の風化を灯す石蕗の花
The flowers of Japanese silver leaf light up the weathered stone guardian dogs.
杣人を曳ける猟犬草いきれ
The hound leads the hunter to his prey: the heat of summer grass.
新藁の馬人形を立たせけり
I made a horse puppet of new straw stand up.
仏弟子と思へるわれや毛虫焼く
Even though I consider myself a Buddhist disciple, I burn caterpillars.
緑陰や老園丁の大鼾
In the shade of the trees: the loud snoring of an old gardener.
Born in Mie, Tadashi Otsuru received a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Tübingen, Germany, and taught at Osaka University and Kwansei Gakuin University in the city of Nishinomiya. Alongside poetic compositions (his poetry collection “Temporary Bridge” appeared in 2020), he has had various essays and translations published.
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