Gogyoshi and haiku of my beloved dog : Moumin!
By Taro Aizu
Spring
A cherry blossom
falls silently
onto the back
of our dog
sleeping soundly
Summer
While being washed,
suddenly
my dog shakes
a vibrant splash
against summer light
Autumn
At dawn
no one has come yet
to the wide lawn.
I release my dog
from his collar
Winter
Closer and closer
As I come to my house
in the cold night,
I hear my dog barking
louder and louder
On April 5
2015
my dog, Moumin
departed the world
at the age of 17.
Haiku of my beloved dog : Moumin!
1.
On my way home
I bought a diaper for my dog-
cherry blossoms.
2.
I make a quilt
down bed for my dog –
cold spring.
3.
I hope my dog
will drink water in bed-
cherry blossoms.
4
I wipe
my bedridden dog
with a towel.
5
My bedridden dog
stands up at last-
spring morning.
6
My beloved dog
is bedridden again
all day long.
7
I close
open eyes of my dog-
the deathbed.
8
Moumin departed here
in full bloom of cherry blossoms-
my lawn garden.
I hope you can all cope with yet more on the theme of losing a beloved dog! (After reading Jim Cole on the subject last time.) These are very different poems from that one, but in these too you can feel the intense love for the canine companion.
Taro Aizu is one of my poetic friends on facebook, whom I know through his posts of haiku and gogyoshi. I know him best through his moving poems on Fukushima. Nevertheless it was his gogyoshi about Moumin which I found so enchanting that I wanted to share them here. Then, because of Moumin's death, we both felt it was right to share the haiku too.
Taro's celebrated poetry book, My Fukushima, is available from BookWay Global.
When I asked him for some further details about himself, he generously provided the following biographical and literary notes:
A biography of Taro Aizu
I was born in the Aizu region of Fukushima prefecture, Japan and now I live in Kanagawa near Tokyo. I have been writing haiku for 20 years, gogyoshi for 12 years in Japanese, and both for 5 years in English and French.
Fukushima nuclear plant exploded on March 12, 2011, after a huge earthquake and a large tsunami on March 11. That summer I went to my hometown, Fukushima, for the first time since the disaster. There I happened to see my nephews hanging dosimeters around their necks. The scene gave me a great shock and that experience inspired me to write “My hometown, Fukushima”. Moreover, I translated it into English and French the next year, in 2012, and then announced it across Facebook.
”My hometown, Fukushima” is translated into 20 languages by my Facebook friends all over the world and a gogyoshi of Takizakura is translated into 35 languages. In 2013 I published, ”Waga Fukushima” in Japanese, “My Fukushima” in English and “Mon Fukushima” in French with German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese translations by Amazon Kindle. At last in 2014, I published the poetry book “Waga Fukushima My Fukushima Mon Fukushima” in three languages, Japanese, English and French.
European and Brazilian artists have been holding exhibitions inspired by my poems in Holland, Germany, Portugal, France and Brazil in 2012, 2013, 2014
and 2015.
① Published books :
1."いとしい地球よ” in Japanese in September, 2005. ”The Lovely Earth” in English in January, 2011 and “La Terre Précieuse” in French in July, 2011.
2. Kindle collections of haiku and gogyoshi, "My Fukushima" in 7 languages, Japanese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German in January, 2013.
3. “わが福島 My Fukushima Mon Fukushima” in May, 2014.
② Awards
1. "First Prize”, The 28th All Japan Modern Haiku Competition, 1991.
2. "Special Prize”, The 2nd Love Poems Competition in Japan, 1991.
3. Three gogyoshi selected in an anthology of English tanka all over the world: "TAKE FIVE, Best Contemporary Tanka, volume 4" in 2012.
4. Poet Laureate Award, Axlepin Publishing in Philippines, 2013.
5. International Excellent Poet Award in Japan, 2014
③ The exhibitions
Exhibitions of artworks inspired by my gogyoshi were held 8 times in 5 countries :
1. Holland, Brazil in 2012, 2013
2. Germany, Portugal in 2014
3. France in 2015
④ Youtube sites of my gogyoshi reading
1. Japanese reading by myself
2 .English reading by myself
3. French reading by a French poet
⑤ Youtube videos of my haiku reading by myself in Japanese, English and
French
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vmZ8oYDDzzk
Poems and photos used in ‘I Wish I’d Written
This’ remain the property of the copyright holders (usually their authors).
I thought that was lovely, it was a great read, and thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteShort form poetry is an appreciation I have developed over the last couple years. The ability to impact with only a few words. I appreciate the ones on the pups. When my cat of many years passed and I spent the last night with her as she died, even burying her affected me --- enough to write my own series of short glimpses of her life and the night --- so there is a connection there.
ReplyDeleteOh Rosemary, thank you for the selections, which you know I resonate with so deeply. They are a beautiful tribute to the poet's beloved companion. And thank you for the introduction to Taro Aizu . I am intrigued by My Fukushima, and can only imagine the depth of his poetry about his hometown.
ReplyDeleteTaro Aizu, thank you for gracing our site with your presence! I so admire all I have read here, and you have a new fan in me!
The feelings that form from this poem are so natural to me and un-forced, I wish I was able to portray such feeling in my writing.
ReplyDeleteFabulous heart breaking and so beautiful...so glad you shared Taro Aizu with us!
ReplyDeleteThese are indeed both soft spoken and evocative. I was even more moved by listening to 2 .English reading by myself
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlucbYVW7ig
Oh my! Fukushima Fukushima! If only we could come back a step into the past! Thank you, Rosemary!
Thanks Rosemary for this wonderful share of poems by Taro Aizu...I had no idea of this free form of five line poetry Gogyoshi...the content shared in this form is so deeply moving...
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed much! Thanks for sharing, Rosemary!
ReplyDeleteSometimes my days blend into each other, so on Friday, I forgot to read this. Glad I thought of it now. What beautiful poetry and what a talented poet. Thank you Rosemary for bringing him to us.
ReplyDelete