three haiku from 2005 with Japanese translations

two butterflies
stop and go, but mostly
keep on going

DWB
Haiku
August 20, 2005

つがい蝶　ならびまろびの　飛翔かな
tsugai chou / narabi marobi no / hishou kana

Translation to Japanese, Ken Saito

tsugai : a pair of, a brace of
narabi (narannde) : to go (in flight) in line/tandem, or, side by side
marobi (maronnde) : (rather old fashioned saying meaning )
to stagger/totter, or to drop-off (from flight)
hishou : flight

"a couple of butterflies flying, (sometimes/mostly) in smooth and side by side flight, (sometimes) troubled flight"

unenlightened, as yet—
how thunderbolts follow
one another

DW Bender
Haiku, 2005

悟るなし　　雷神あまた　　お在せども
satoru nashi / raijin amata / owase domo

Translation to Japanese, Ken Saito
(alludes to the haiku by master, Matsuo Basho [1644-1694]:

"How admirable!
to see lightning and not think
life is fleeting.")

almost before
it starts, it stops.
afternoon rain

DW Bender
Haiku, 2005

午後の雨　　降りだす間なく　　降り止めり
gogo no ame / furidasu manaku / furi yameri

Translation to Japanese, Ken Saito

Drifting apart

side-by-side, riding
through the common hours
we drift far apart—
your mind on the driving
and my mind on the drive

DW Bender
Tanka 2-18-08

a summer haiku from the past:

outdoor café
world problems solved
over coffee and tea

DW Bender
Summer Haiku, 2002, rev.2003,
World Haiku Review:
From A Haiku Editor's Desk,
"Writing Under the Influence"