Still Spring – Haiku

 

獨坐幽篁里，彈琴復長嘯。
深林人不知，明月來相照。
竹里館
王維
Sitting alone in the bamboo grove,
I play my zither and hum a song.
No one knows this deep forest,
Only the bright moon is my company.
Retreat amidst Bamboo
Wang Wei

Two crickets
At Ryoanji stone garden
Suddenly they stop

Wafting mists
And the honeysuckle’s fragrance
As the warbler whistles

Some dew drops still
On the morning glories
And a butterfly

Aircraft landing
A flock of sparrows
Taking off

Spring fragrance
But the rain feels forlorn
Like the ice vendor

Yawning clouds
Brown pine needles dotting
A steamy windshield

Vanishing
Reflections from black mirrors
And memories

Fir trees
Comforted by darkness
But the wind moans

Heart Sutra
Stone Buddha listening
And incense

Pitch dark
An empty church
But light enters

Wang Wei (王維) is a poet, painter, musician and politician of the Tang Dynasty. According to Wikipedia he lived from 699 to 759 and also according to my old textbook which I used for a course in Tang poetry long ago. He is one of the most important poets of the Tang Dynasty and that is why we find 29 of his poems in the anthology 300 Poems of the Tang Dynasty. And Retreat amidst Bamboo is a well known poem.

.