Monday, February 07, 2022

Geppo: The Haiku Work-Study Journal of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, Volume XLVI:3, August 2021

May - July 2021


farm team
blue jeans steal colour
from the sky


you outgrow
your self again . . .
cow parsley


meadowsweet
the deer leave me
one bloom


summer as far
as the eye can see . . .
new horizons


Summer Challenge Kigo: Summer Grass, Summer Grasses, natsugusa ya


the resilience
of summer grasses . . .
prairie hail


Honoured that "meadowsweet" was included among the "Voted Best" (7 or more votes) and chosen for commentary in the subsequent issue:


Dojin's Corner:

The second line, with its multiple readings, is the heart of this haiku. Deer leave one bloom, deer leave me. Deer will eat anything, but they leave one—not some, not a few—one bloom. That solitary bloom reinforces the idea of leaving, of being left. I also admire the sonic qualities of this haiku: the long "e" sounds in "sweet," "deer," and "me," as well as the "m's" in the first and last lines. Also I can't read that first line—"meadowsweet"—without thinking "bittersweet."

—Beverly Acuff Momoi

Oh, spirea or meadowsweet is such a beautiful bush with its long sprays of white flowers. It's hard to imagine the deer ate them all but one? It must be like vanilla ice cream to them—so the name, meadowsweet, appropriately captures its delectability.

—Patricia J. Machmiller

Just one bloom left on the meadowsweet? Since deer have four legs while we have only two, it probably took all of those anti-inflammatory herbal flowers to relieve the deer's joint pain and gout. One bloom will be enough to make a ice cup of meadowsweet tea. Enjoy!

—Emiko Miyashita



Also honoured to know that "meadowsweet" was included among the favourites of Dojins Beverly Acuff Momoi and Patricia J. Machmiller. "Farm team" was included among the favourites of Dojin Emiko Miyashita, and "you outgrow" was included among the favourites of Patricia!

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