a piece of twig

[Jee Leong]

One step outside the gate
and I too am a traveler
in the autumn evening

—Yosa Buson, translated by W.S. Merwin & Takako Lento


April 2015

1. two weeks into spring
2. big dog sniffing
3. the hudson line
4. describe
5. no lilacs bloom
6. in the gay lake
7. used toothpick
8. in minneapolis
9. the concierge recommends
10. Minneapolis haiku
11. snow again
12. in my idle dream
13. Minneapolis haiku
14. subscribe
15. no daffodil
16. Minneapolis haiku
17. forsythia in bloom
18. no smoking in the park
19. wood shavings fly
20. in the green pond
21. spring rain
22. speaking of beach
23. with the sun
24. this london plane
25. if i were the dog
26. the paint forsythia
27. two japanese women
28. it's too hard in spring
29. april twilight
30. in the forsythia

[Jee Leong]

two weeks into spring
this tree holds up its leaves
traffic signal yellow

[Featherless Biped]

Jee! So nice to be in your company again. I see that you're rocking the Japanese forms. Is that a link and shift from the Buson poem, with "traffic signal" picking up on "traveler", and "spring" as a kind of answer to "autumn"?

[5th column]

Hi Jee, I wondered if you were going to arrive fashionably late. Traffic signal yellow, preparing for green. Very nice

[standardcrow]

Short but sweet as ever. Always a pleasure to read your musings. Happy NaPo!

[prooftheory]

Jee, I think we need to have a NaPo in the fall just to see what you would come up with then. Or maybe you need to move to Chile for a year. Nice start.

[BruisedOrange]

Lovely start. I'm looking forward to more from you!

Jen

[Jee Leong]

Thanks, FB, 5th, standardcrow, prooftheory, cookala, Sarah, Dave, Angela, Dunc and Jen! FB, now you've gone and put the idea in my head! proof, a year in chile sounds like a dream.



big dog sniffing
by the veiny tulip stalks
straining to pop

[mjd888]

Hi Jee, I like how this one captures the liminal nature of spring; also, the contrast between the big dog and the delicate stalks is satisfying.

[Featherless Biped]

Okay, I have to ask: is that an innuendo in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? (Sorry if it's just my hopelessly dirty mind; I think it was "veiny" that really did it. I do think the picture of the dog is apt, regardless.)

[GreaterMandalaofUselessness]

Hey Jee,

Nice to see you here with your Spring haiku.

In the first I can read the traffic signal as a tree, or as signalling a "get ready" before full "go" of leaf-growth.

The second, somehow I'm not sure whether the dog or the tulips are straining. My apologies for sharing that thought.

Have a great month.

best,

Matt

[BrianIsSmilingAtYou]

big dog sniffing
by the veiny tulip stalks
straining to pop

I laughed when I read this, as my brain wanted to read the last line as "straining to poop".

That may have been your intention--"pop" referring to the tulips, ready to blossom--"poop" referring to the dog, with an urgent need to do what dogs do.

BrianIs AtYou

[vmh]

I love the tension you are able to produce in so few words.

I like that several of us are curious as to April/Napo at other times of year.

Vicky

[Steven]

Some very memorable haiku here.

Particularly liked the inventive erotica of the 'big dog' around the tulip stalks that strain to pop. So much compressed inside so few words, but very spring-y

Also liked the teasing contrast between rail and river in the 'hudson line', and in general, the way you write about spring that captures its essence: 'traffic signal yellow'.

Thanks,

[Sorella]

Jee,
Your haiku always surprise. I am so looking forward to a month of them. Nature and traffic lights, beauty and dog shit. Yay!! ☺