Looking back to 2024 final weeks (Japan)

=-=-=-= Japan 2024 series-part 2 from November to early January

narrow lane in full sun shows yard implements leaning on house side

Weeks of snow ahead

But there's glorious sun now

Smiles under blue sky

traditional Tansu chest of drawers showing decorative corner face metalwork

Joiners built fine chests

Bride's trousseau to start their home

For generations

bowl of buckwheat noodles topped by grated daikon radish

Oroshi soba

Simple, cold, and flavorful

Burp! The diner sighs

close-up of 33 bodhisattva formation with 1 yen coins scattered in foreground

Earthly coins offered

Leaving one's token anew

Safe passage through life

temple wall and tiled roof on left, new parking lot on right

Nextdoor temple gone

Graves displaced for cars to park

Restless spirits drive

2-photo collage of tiny ramen restaurant; table top & full bowl in foreground

Ramen best when hot

Some few seats for quick eaters

Tasty all year round

parking lot with polished lozeng-shaped historical marker

Years of small business

Now cars fill that fine old space

Cold stone remembers

outlines of former samurai house and its well

Samurai home life

Scant traces to see today

What lives they once lived

open space of former Natatsu Castle grounds in late aftenoon light, obelisk at right edge

Fearsome castle there

Make-believe playground of yore

Tourists poke around

view from train driver's window of rice chaff burning near tracks and smoke drifting across

Another harvest

Paddies smolder afterwards

Prepared for winter

distant smoke from rice fields after harvest

Young farmer burns chaff

Rice hulled and polished to store

Next year fresh seedlings

narrow trail with foreground pointer sign

Pilgrims take this trail

Na-mu Amida Butsu
88 temples

a dozen peeled persimmons on strings to dry in the sun

Dried persimmons sway

Warm sun and cold nights to taste

Long ago flavors

Comments

Defining "Photo Haiku," reflecting on " 写真俳句

https://shashin-haiku.org [added purple text] The webpage about "what is a photo haiku" stirs thoughts about some of the issues and considerations when putting visual and verbal layers together. The joining of word and picture is known in Japan by various references to the 5-7-5 structured image poems; for example, shahai , haisha , photo haiku, photo 575, and so on. The example in this screenshot from the webpage at https://shashin-haiku.org/写真俳句とは has a mother and child peering at the myriad koi (carp) filling a shady spot in a channel of moving water. One way to put the verse into English is: Mama and child / A moment at the streamside / Shining so brightly. Some people begin with their text and then seek a photo that relates somehow to the verbal "snapshot," either closely fitting the haiku, or more loosely associated with the feelings carried in the words. Others will see something that catches their eye for some reason and then later they come up with a ...

Between fall and winter's first hints

Visual haiku from October 6 to ice in birdbath 23 October 2023 Wet October bright Morning wetland colors true Shine in the cloudbreaks Too weary just now The cart can rest in the sun Mind preoccupied Leaves fall stiffly down The wet cement later dries Leaving time's traces Bodhisattva head Fluid essence now made hard Far from East Asia Fresh asphalt and paint Make riding such great pleasure Rolling through the days Racing morning clouds Fly over bright fall treetops Birds watch day breaking One tree so vivid Announcing cold days to come More colors ahead Myriad pond life Diverse microbiota Thrive in quiet rot Living roots' power Push through petroleum crust Thirsting for sunshine Fall color and sculpture Bathe in October sunshine Winter days coming White contrail above Streaks over the fall colors Apples bob below Dappling on green leaves Maples soon red flames to be The nights grow colder Glittering fall light Makes leaves of maple so bright Pushing winter back Pathway statue...

Mild February feels like March

Snow shovel at rest Winter takes a break these days Rising global heat Shaggy frost on stone Fades in the spring-like morning Comes again tonight A lone pine needle Bears the heavy frost for now Knowing it soon melts Winter sumac bows With frost its furry blanket Thinking of spring days Capped in copper frost No need to light the pathway Morning light is fine Gliding under ice Open water for breathing Chilly scales and tails Unmoving boulder Feels winter breaking a little Pines stand ever green Sun-bleached railings stand Zig-zagging across the pond Sumac on one side Boat landing frozen Eight or nine weeks yet to go Before it arrives Flutter in mild breeze February feels like March But winter stays still No baseball today It's still winter after all Teams come in two months Wetland boardwalk bright Buzzing drone high overhead Sees the baseball fields

Picturing Haiku

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