2008 1st Haiku Meeting: January 19
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
late at night
paperwork finished
“Ah! First snow!”
Yasuomi Koganei
Robai ya kannonbosatsu no onmaeni
Yasuhiko Shirota
frozen mountain
in sunset glow
divine
Ikken Ikemoto
buds
firm but a bit red
- peony temple
Hideo Ebihara
sirens wailing
the quilt border feels chilly
sleepless, tonight
Sachiko Kondo
small as they are
all the plums’ buds
aiming for the sky
Hajimu Hirakita
New Year Sales
- single mother shopping
for ready-to-eat meals
Hidetoshi Nagami
pink and white
rice ornaments swaying gently
- Kabuki starts today
Michi Umeda
drifting off the path
into a sea
of fallen leaves
Takeo Hanaoka
in the New Year
looking up at the night sky
the stars seeming so near
Chiyumi Kurimitsu
enchanting sounds
live from Vienna
announcing spring
Hitoshi Ichinose
first business day
of the New Year
the smoggy sky and future
Midori Tanaka
plum branches
by the school gate
Today, dressed up
Crystal Brunelli
New Year greeting
from London
“Rain, rain, and more rain”
Midori Suzuki
in the sun
waiting for a bus
chatting happily
Masaaki Oka
New Year parliament -
powerful men shouting down
powerful men
Shinya Ogata
oil price hits $100 a barrel
hot-water bottles make
a sudden come back
Junko Saeki
this hill once famous
for its view
of snow-capped Mt.Fuji
Takashi Ikari
wild wind
pop!
umbrella inside out
Navita Kalra (Canada)
Two thousand eight
Still, the future isn't here
Buck Rogers, where are you?
Royal T. Fruehling （Hawai'i, USA）
Christmas in England
- no snow but my wife
got a new white hair
Dr. Zoran G. Mimica (UK)
mangrove crying
for ecological care
- message in winter
Ikku Aga
2008 2nd Haiku Meeting: February 9
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
scarlet peony
in snow?
her inmost thoughts
Yasuhiko Shirota
global warming
where has it gone?
snowy morning
Kiyoshi Sugita
a snowy night
every mountain
with its silence
Sachiko Kondo
nightmarish fishbones
in mid-winter
Tokyo Tower
Michi Umeda
mountains
mountains
mountains
and ume
in flower
Ikken Ikemoto
just missing
our annual sake and sakura
he left for Heaven
Hidetoshi Nagami
stone Buddha smiles
out of a friend’s postcard
snow-capped
Hideo Hanaoka
morning snow -
the curtain moves slightly
at the window over the road
Yasuomi Koganei
candy house
windows lit and blurred
snowflakes past midnight
Etsu Sasayama
snowflakes dancing
backed by amber lights
- Bandai Bridge
Hideo Ebihara
the muffled sound
of a delivery moped
- snow at dawn
Midori Tanaka
anniversary of mother’s death
a flurry of snowflakes
her message
Midori Suzuki
Ashibi flowers -
my life punctuated
by good and bad
Shinya Ogata
on my way home
from her funeral -
her plum tree just beginning
to blossom
Junko Saeki
annual ringｓ
of a zelkova tree stump
the earth getting cold
Hajimu Hirakita
a blind girl
plays in the sun
with green scarf and song
Zoran Mimica (UK)
bara ni yuki kongi no omoide 2/26
Ikku Aga
2008 3rd Haiku Meeting: March 8
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
water getting warmer-
the cat yawning
after me
Yasuhiko Shirota
70th birthday - - -
repeatedly reading
an article about iPS cells
Yasuomi Koganei
under the great curve of stars
“Voice of Spring” resounding
southernmost island
Etsu Sasayama
kindergarten kids
dashing all at once
heat dancing in the air
Michi Umeda
a post card on my desk
announcing the reunion
sentimental memories
Hidetoshi Nagami
sparkles of sea
glimpsed
through tree ferns
Ikken Ikemoto
after 50 years of memories
that rustic wine
again
Takeo Hanaoka
a mother and daughter
with red camellias
church for martyrs
Hideo Ebihara
days and cats
stretch
sharing in the laziness
Sachiko Kondo
boisterous children
reach my ears
spring approaching
Shinya Ogata
her stinging word sends me
to the spring sea
peaceful
Midori Tanaka
shrine to education
a thousand wishes for a thousand children
one wish for a mother
Takashi Ikari
wild boars disrupt
memories of my friend
spring in Chichibu
Ikku Aga
spring “gift”
from the continent
yellow sand
Kiyoshi Sugita
plum blossoms
the same red and the same white
though they are late
Hitoshi Ichinose
first gale of spring
walking leeward
Midori Suzuki
little bird with her baby
gathering nectar
from my plums
Masaaki Oka
Doll’s Festival
grasping at peach blossoms
a tiny hand
Chiyumi Kurimitsu
this mountain, another mountain
smelling sweet
with white plum flowers
Hajimu Hirakita
"bonsai" bought in haste
a plum tree and a Japanese quince
paired inadvertently
Junko Saeki
Lumina bland-a lunii (kind light of moon)
suflet de poet- (soul of poet)
eternitate (eternity)
Nicolae Ionut (Romania)
Liliac in floare- (lilac in bloom) -
aripa de fluture (butterfly wing)
primavara (spring)
Panzaru Dana (Romania)
Copilarie uitata- (forgotten childhood)
pe strada veche (on the old street)
o batrana viseazaa (an old woman is dreaming)
Laura Patricia Popescu (Romania)
the boys grudgingly
cheer their team's newest member
hit?her first home run
Royal T. Fruehling, Hawai'I (USA)
2008 4th Haiku Meeting: April 12
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
the entire Sunday
spent
on a cherry-spot crawl
Kiyoshi Sugita
rond
in the wind
colored bamboo leaves
Sachiko Kondo
lucky stalk
floating erect in my tea
- serene spring
Michiko Murai
gnarled
but in her prime
cherry in bloom
Ikken Ikemoto
library
each to his book
I to mine
Hidetoshi Nagami
why do you
hurry to heaven?
- apricot blossoms
Takeo Hanaoka
cherry blossoms
in full bloom
in rain
alone
Yasuhiko Shirota
cherry petals falling
on the toddlers
on the pavement
Yasuomi Koganei
rather than the cosmic world
my sky
of cherry blossoms
Takashi Ikari
one of the ducks
breaking into
a huge raft of cherry petals
Hideo Ebihara
novice monk’s voices
mingling with
Nirvana west wind
Midori Tanaka
turtle whistling
popping his head in and out
cherry petals on the pond
Ikku Aga
wild duck going home
a mid the falling cherry petals
lingering twilight
Midori Suzuki
“Enjoy every moment of this life’s journey”
Easter message
from the world beyond
Masaaki Oka
temple in cherry blossom clouds
one hundred
steep steps
Shinya Ogata
sakura tea brings
bittersweet memories
“Taste our last spring date”
Tsvetomira Ivanova (Bulgaria)
yellow dust veils
each constellation
- ace stars gleam through
Etsu Sasayama
spring service -
instead of prayers
endless coughing
Izumi Sato
school girls racing
to catch a bus
brand new uniforms
Junko Saeki
bird-watching lens
catching
the cat's love
Hajimu Hirakita
rain and gusts
scattering cherry petals
washing the sky
Michi Umeda
chewing bubble gum
her face fully eclipsed
pop! a sticky mask.
Royal T. Fruehling, Hawai'I (USA)
hail pounds against
rick'ty window
-Easter in England
Navita Kalra (Canada)
morning after
a cloud shapes itself
into a butterfly
Angelee Deodhar (India)
on the BBC
along with the news items
- cherry blossoms in Korea
Angelee Deodhar (India)
O frunza galbena (a yellow leaf)
din copacul vested (of the dry tree)
pregatit de iarna (ready for the winter)
Vasile Pop 14 year old (Constantza, Romania)
Pomi fara viata (lifeless trees-)
frunzele au acoperit (leaves covered)
cararea spre casa (the path to home)
Hrisca Elena Madalina 13 year old (Constantza, Romania)
in cadere frunze (leaves in fall)
de pe vechea casa- (from the old house-)
covor argintiu (silvery carpet)
Hrisca Elena Madalina 13 year old (Constantza, Romania)
heaven on earth
a full silence-
snow flakes fly
Bogdan Tudorascu 14 years (Constantza, Romania)
the coloured flowers
the colourful rainbow
the happy children
Flavia Pescar 14 years (Constantza, Romania)
blowing wind
petals playing
in the green trees
STEFAN NECULAI 13 years (Constantza, Romania)
spring coming
flowers blossoming
perfume in the air
ALEXANDRU CRISTEA -13 years (Constantza, Romania)
coloured flowers
powerful perfume-
children everywhere
ANDREEA SANDU-13 years (Constantza, Romania)
2008 5th Haiku Meeting: May 10
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
workmen adding
a shiny wooden terrace
May Day
Junko Saeki
revving up
heart and body -
first day of summer
Ikken Ikemoto
out of the forest
eyes washed by the fresh foliage
of tea
Yasuhiko Shirota
coming into bud
jubilations
one tree to the next
Takashi Ikari
above the canola field
sparrows in flight
melt into brightness
Motoko Sato
China in a tight spot
panda and ping-pong
diplomacy
Hidetoshi Nagami
new foliage
shading a stone
- Soseki once rested here
Michi Umeda
her head on his shoulder
his eyes on another girl
local spring train
Yasuomi Koganei
brilliant mountain
approaching the train
salute!
Takeo Hanaoka
black soil
still sticking
to my bamboo shoot
Hideo Ebihara
carp streamers flying
amusingly in the azure skies
children’s laughter around
Michiko Murai
energetic greenery
the season is here
- botanical gardens
Kiyoshi Sugita
tender, young bracken
served in a little bowl
- another day ends
Shinya Ogata
the page I’m reading
dyed green
by new leaves
Midori Tanaka
a spring breeze
invited to his tea ceremony
in the shade of his tomb
Izumi Sato
waves of age
lapping at my shore
hazy moon
Hitoshi Ichinose
rusty leaves falling
from library roof -
science versus spring
Tsvetomira Ivanova (Bulgaria)
bamboo shoot from a friend
making dinner
a little earlier
Midori Suzuki
executive next door
returns to his family
just for Golden Week
Masaaki Oka
“Hey Aga! You gaga duck”
bullied
those summer days
Ikku Aga
the shade of trees -
policemen’s poles held firmly
around Nagata-cho
Hajimu Hirakita
early summer garden
gale forces drying shirts
to hug
Sachiko Kondo
summer night -
the spaniel moves closer
to the air conditioner
Angelee Deodhar (India)
new class -
a new wad of chewing gum
on the teachers' chair
Angelee Deodhar (India)
2008 6th Haiku Meeting: June 14
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
skyscrapers along the canal
wooden walkway underfoot
wishing for seagulls
Takeo Hanaoka
once foliage
now vestige
cherry tree kerf left behind
Hideo Ebihara
curse the rain
that falls
just after watering
Sachiko Kondo
idea settled upon
for Mother’s Day
broiled eel delivery
Takashi Ikari
memory of her sparkling eyes
one month before her passing
coughing alone
Yasuomi Koganei
silent night
all the clams in the kitchen
sticking out their tongues
Hidetoshi Nagami
basket with dipper
for washing coins and mind
water cooling the air
Michi Umeda
collecting dewdrops
hydrangeas in full blossom
these vivid colors
Michiko Murai
tune on a reed pipe
pulling me into a pass
longing to see the player
Motoko Sato
early summer breeze
Hikone Castle
towering
Kiyoshi Sugita
rainy season cold-
under the collapsed building
panda found at last
Yasuhiko Shirota
summer breeze
fanning the hair of
a dreaming infant
Ikken Ikemoto
on the Kata-shiro
writing the names of my whole family
for luck
Shinya Ogata
what a joy!
potted roses sent by a friend
for my garden
Masaaki Oka
requiem solemn, sorrowful
war monument wet
with spring rain
Midori Suzuki
“A great achievement!”
live news from space
rainy gloom blown off
Hitoshi Ichinose
separating often
then gathering again
swallows in summer
Setsuo Iida
vending machine
our winter romance
suddenly over
Tsvetomira Ivanova (Bulgaria) (Tokyo)
peonies in flower
crescendo
in the rainy garden
Junko Saeki
festival flutes
father dancing
child on shoulders
Hajimu Hirakita
perfect poppy garden
land
for sale
Midori Tanaka
too short the time
it delights the eye
one springtime day lily
Royal T. Fruehling, Hawai'I (USA)
earlier daybreak
fingers fumble for TV buttons
turtledove cooing
Etsu Sasayama
peacock fans his feathers
as hen looks away
-spring at the zoo
Navita Karla (Canada)
lucky me-
toast for breakfast
this foggy Friday
Dr.Zoran G. Mimica (UK)
2008 7th Haiku Meeting: July 12
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
L-O-V-E on her back
fading
a half-buried coral isle
Yasuomi Koganei
a short night
happily retracing
an interrupted dream
Michiko Murai
summer solstice
turning off Tokyo Tower
the moon alone
Michi Umeda
carefree fellow
one limb on a floating leaf
- water spider
Motoko Satoh
do you know where you are
merry swallows?
balcony of the president’s execution
Midori Tanaka
patchwork
of used linens
born again
Sachiko Kondo
playing Noh
fireflies in the ebony night
drizzling
Takeo Hanaoka
summer night
next door picking
guitar
Hidetoshi Nagami
remembering the names
not the features
- garden of roses
Takashi Ikari
beads of sweat
ace
turning the game around
Ikken Ikemoto
at dawn
waiting for the sound of the lotus
“Have you ever heard it?”
Yasuhiko Shirota
lightning
no where to flee
boat at sea
Hideo Ebihara
summer has brought
good old memories
- missing those days
Kiyoshi Sugita
people of many skin colors
met and agreed
in the country of many green hues
Etsu Sasayama
boat excursion
amazed
by the crowds of Donau pelicans
Shinya Ogata
cataract operation
- dazzling ?
rainy days over
Hitoshi Ichinose
thoughts
of my mother, my hometown, my childhood
- drying plums
Midori Suzuki
little mountains
dotted here and there
summer mole
Ikku Aga
Toyako summit
hoping for a cool Earth
at the Weaver Festival
Masaaki Oka
summer night
his words hang like
wet clothes
Junko Saeki
a single yacht
weaves through “a sea tankers”
coming and going
Hajimu Hirakita
silent nightfall
white migrating birds
along the river
Sonia Coman (Romania) (Tokyo)
hot, bright summer days
children laugh and play outdoors
farmers, pray for rain
Royal T. Fruehling, Hawai'i?(USA)
morning breeze
am I really
enlightened?
Zoran Mimica (Croatia) (London)
2008 8th Haiku Meeting: August 9
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
dignity
on the summer sea
the Alpinist’s ashes
Ikken Ikemoto
chorus of cicadas
hopefully celebrating
my 77th birthday
Kiyoshi Sugita
washing dishes
deep into the winter night
nowhere to sleep
Yasuomi Koganei
pet dog 6 now
taking more than 40 winks
sweltering days
Shinya Ogata
this heat
even the cicada
seeking shelter
Hidetoshi Nagami
old man’s eyes
sparkling.. sparkling.. sparkling..
silver dragonfly vanishes
Hideo Ebihara
lingering
around the door of sleep
- sultry nights
Midori Tanaka
sorry
I don’t like fireworks
the blurry sky
Etsu Sasayama
first cicadas
humming to my watering
the garden
Takeo Hanaoka
cat on the bench
taking a nap
rural station
Michi Umeda
a wind-bell
soothing a friend with cancer
her faint smile
Michiko Murai
goldfish
on her kimono sleeves
joining in the circle dance
Motoko Satoh
my hundred-year-old friend -
gone on a trip
to lotus country
Yasuhiko Shirota
get armored
be a Nobunaga
- inspiringly hot
Ikku Aga
Olympics -
Beijing now dancing
to hand on the torch
Masaaki Oka
turning over the pages
with smooth fingertips
evening coolness
Maki Hatanaka
young father in yukata
holding baby in yukata
Bon dancing
Midori Suzuki
gardening
- a couple of centipedes
caught in a hot embrace
Sachiko Kondo
dancing in the breeze
plumes of red and pink
crape myrtle in bloom
Royal T. Fruehling, Hawai'i?(USA)
golden sands-
the autumn wind playing
an empty shell
Vasile Moldovan (Romania)
beach at noon-
a wave brings ashore
an empty beer bottle
Laura Vaceanu (Romania)
2008 9th Haiku Meeting: September 13
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
summer Olympics over
leaving to the world
glory and a human Babel tower
Hideo Ebihara
soaking in a hot bath
insects chirring
somewhere in the dark
Sachiko Kondo
lightning
over three days and nights
forced to stay in
Michi Umeda
Chinese restaurant
ignoring the cockroach
asking the waiter
for a doggie bag
Hidetoshi Nagami
baking bread -
crickets also
part of my family
Hajimu Hirakita
towering cloud
men are shouting
for change
Takeo Hanaoka
her dreams of 94 years
entombed now
clouds rising from distant mountains
Yasuomi Koganei
summer is over
leaving nothing
but lingering heat
Kiyoshi Sugita
this scarecrow
neither male
nor female
Takashi Ikari
looking for the hares
on the full moon
even in the space age
Michiko Murai
at his night vigil
thinking of my own -
insects singing
Ikken Ikemoto
“Old People’s Day”
the happy feeling
turns hollow
Hitoshi Ichinose
lightning
a symptom of
this prevalent longing
Ikku Aga
cicadas’ twilight chorus
endlessly reminiscing
about the deceased
Midori Suzuki
haplessness
prime minister burning out
before autumnal session
Masaaki Oka
Orion on the rise
insects in the underbrush
making piercing screams
Etsu Sasayama
sons in their prime
paulownia leaf still clinging
to the tree
Shinya Ogata
scooping autumn wind
the pedal organ
echoes
Midori Tanaka
autumn rain-
writing haiku about
the last sunny day
Vasile Moldovan (Romania)
I laugh today
at London rain
- ha, ha, ha
Zoran Mimica (Croatia) (London)
half moon in the twilight
cicadas suddenly silent
a soft breeze
Junko Saeki
2008 10th Haiku Meeting: October 11
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
Nobel Prize
to a Japanese scientist
thanks to a million jellyfish
Shinya Ogata
the evening moon
over cosmos flowers
- an open-air spa bath
Kiyoshi Sugita
noisy children
outside the calligraphy school
- the last persimmon trembles
Motoko Satoh
by a shabby hotel
she frowns at his wallet
the autumn wind
Yasuomi Koganei
seventy seven years old
the dentist changed my smile
by expensive treatment
Hidetoshi Nagami
bird’s eye view
of the farmer’s forest carving
-virile line
Takeo Hanaoka
people coming and going
yet, the temple is calm
autumn breeze
Michi Umeda
typhoon gone
washed regalia fluttering
on every veranda
Hideo Ebihara
fall flora
nameless to me
bearing drops of last night’s rain
Sachiko Kondo
what can I do
but pray?
- sweet olive
Yasuhiko Shirota
red dragonflies
finding no place to rest
just keep flying
Takashi Ikari
puffing at his pipe
as he gazes at the crops
- autumn twilight
Maki Hatanaka
finding
autumn eggplant tasty
- having aged
Ikku Aga
vesper bells
Venus close
Cologne in autumn
Midori Suzuki
French Nobel laureate
keeps aids from spreading
- omniscient support
Masaaki Oka
birch forest
our mountain guide
is a mushroom magician
Etsu Sasayama
even children
picking cotton in the heat
unpaid compulsory work
Midori Tanaka
head held high
on my hat
a red feather
Hajimu Hirakita
letting the moonlight
into my guest room
I play the KOTO
Michiko Murai
autumn
women working out ferociously at the gym
their men are at work
Junko Saeki
gust of wind
rabbit races
to safety
Navita Kalra (Canada)
coming closer to the hill
the sound of snowflakes
on her jacket
Dietmar Tauchner (Austria)
autumn hike
the tiny rainbow
in a cowpat
Dietmar Tauchner (Austria)
night by night
a chandelier in my orchard-
quince tree in bearing
Vasile Moldovan (Romania)
dinner out tonight?
nothing much to celebrate
DOW is down again
Royal T. Fruehling, Hawaii (USA)
2008 11th Haiku Meeting: November 8
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
at the high school reunion
still responding to my maiden name
autumn moon
Michi Umeda
skyscrapers
in the winter night drizzle -
distant foghorn
Yasuomi Koganei
autumn leaves covering
mountain after mountain
- Tohoku region
Kiyoshi Sugita
raindrops glitter
on cascading chrysanthemums
Asakusa alley
Motoko Satoh
used book festival
men and pages
bathing in the sunshine
Takeo Hanaoka
bell ring insects
now singing in the trees
Tokyo night
Hideo Ebihara
she says warm
I say cold---, anyway
winter is there
Hidetoshi Nagami
this winter morning
mountains clear and near
- couple silent
Sachiko Kondo
hidden
in colored leaves -
prevarications
Ikken Ikemoto
blue heron
standing on one leg -
winter in this morning
Yasuhiko Shirota
migratory birds
crossing borders
without baggage
Takashi Ikari
cozy hat
pulling the brim over my eyes
age not showing
Michiko Murai
continuing
days of fear
nights of concern
- winter arrived today
Etsu Sasayama
path between paddy fields
a staggering silhouette
in moonlight
Maki Hatanaka
nut top spinning
this world wobbling
feeling pathos
Hitoshi Ichinose
schoolmate in wheelchair
waiting for a cure
autumn deepens
Shinya Ogata
new rice from my hometown
giving thanks
before the Buddhist altar
Midori Suzuki
sister’s new house
standing in the cool air
over a treetop
Masaaki Oka
Irish ruins
populated by sheep
clad for winter
Hajimu Hirakita
“I am a pacifist”
said a Rumanian haiku friend
cosmos waves
Ikku Aga
nerves on edge
soothed
by autumn coloured mountains
Midori Tanaka
wine-colored leaves
of dogwood
do you miss your homeland?
Junko Saeki
school children pulling
my pullover and screaming
-what happiness
Zoran Mimica (Croatia) (London)
sweeping up fallen leaves
I have found a coin...
autumn silver
Vasile Moldovan (Romania)
sweet champagne
midnight meal
ebullient conversation
Navita Kalra (Canada)
the child watches
between intertwined fingers
a scary movie
Royal T. Fruehling, Hawai'i (USA)
2008 12 th Haiku Meeting: December 13
Moderator: Catherine Urquhart
even this talkative fellow
taciturn now
fire bright in the grate
Motoko Satoh
nursing
my distant memories
winter seclusion
Maki Hatanaka
at the Year End dinner
hefting a sake-bottle to refill his glass
his weight at birth
Yasuomi Koganei
persimmon leaves falling
on my
cognitive decline
Takeo Hanaoka
change in the U. S.
the status quo in Japan
winter deepening
Ikken Ikemoto
white peony
covered with snow
- December love
Yasuhiko Shirota
feet steering me
into the Art Deco museum
one crisp morning
Shinya Ogata
who is to blame
for time flying?
- year-end party again
Kiyoshi Sugita
pine branches safe
under snow umbrella
sparrows flying around
Hideo Ebihara
looking out for Canopus
nightly
it is I who holds the fleece
Etsu Sasayama
tones of the organ
lingering in the air
winter raindrops
Michiko Murai
withered branches
pretending to be witches
pointing in the dark
Sachiko Kondo
autumn gone
financial crisis
under the carpet
Takashi Ikari
camellia and ginkgo
brightening the narrow path
to a royal garden
Masaaki Oka
word of the year
“change”
hope of the people
Hitoshi Ichinose
leaves falling
on a suspension bridge
- winter crossing
Ikku Aga
new born infant
smiles in her sleep
- grandma’s hand-knitted vest
Midori Tanaka
a paperboy binds his hair tightly
to put on his helmet
his white breath
Junko Saeki
a withered leaf
blown and straying
into my kitchen
Michi Umeda
Japanese silver leaves
a cross engraved on the back of Jizo
for aborted children
Hajimu Hirakita
crisp grey sky morning
hot puffs of breath escaping
Decem-brrrr!
Lammers Pat (USA)
Pasari calatoare (traveling birds)
depasesc norii vinetii- (faster than the purple clouds-)
prima bruma (the first drizzle)
Cristina Maria Holdor (Romania)