Two Haiku 2008: ancient fountain; clear tidepool...

ancient fountain
into which now falls only
its weight of winters

DW Bender
Haiku, February 1, 2008


clear shallows—
gulf weed floats over
its shadows

DW Bender
New Year/Winter Haiku, February 1, 2008
*gulfweed/sargassum - a New Year kigo

I want to remember this poem, "A Measuring Worm," by Richard Wilbur, published in The New Yorker.

New Year's Eve

old year, new year....
one soul newly arrived
one soul soon to leave

tamashii no katsu umare katsu saru kozo-kotoshi

Debra Woolard Bender
Japanese Romanji translation by Susumu Takiguchi

Haiku published in World Haiku Review, HYAKU-NIN IKKU (One Hundred Haiku by One Hudred Poets Project), January 2007

The above haiku was written about my newest granddaughter's birth, and my 89 year old father-in-law's cancer (his cancer went into remission, but he doesn't have much longer in this world.)