These haiku by Japanese poet Suzuki Shizuko were originally published in her first haiku collection, Shunrai (Spring Thunder), in 1946. A postwar poet, Shizuko’s work blends traditional seasonal motifs with the harsh realities of life in Allied Occupied Japan. After Shizuko’s second haiku collection Yubiwa (The Ring) was published in 1952, she disappeared and her whereabouts continue to be a mystery. The poems were translated from the Japanese by Brianna Noll.
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rain on new leaves
the government railway lines
run side by side
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coldest time of year
at Tokyo station
waiting for someone
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Tokyo,
I vow to share your fate.
Is this the height of summer?
(violent bombing)
*
scorching sun
burning leaves of sense
lingering in the air
raid shelter (August 15, 1945, the Japanese Imperial Army surrenders)
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my love for
the Tokyo of those days
a distant galaxy
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Photo by Keromi Keroyama via Creative Commons
