I have been crazy busy getting ready for IB’s celebration for his trip to Japan (The party is Saturday). I just finished the stairs….Basho’s famous haiku complete with kanji. Ever since the Soiled opening at our house and their mission statement on our stairs, I have been fascinated with the visual possibilities of this space. No better cause than IB’s imminent journey to Japan to experiment.
I put One Hundred Frogs by Hiroake Sato on the stair wall, available to peruse as well. This book is filled with an abundance of translations and interpretations of this haiku (Robert Aiken’s translation is on our steps). It’s delightfully provocative to explore the possible inferences and riffs, from ancient times to present day, on these three short lines.
More on this later.
Many things to clean and cook.
Journeys need marking.
Nexus 
JAN
I
LOVE
YOUR
LEAPING
INTO
PONDS
HAIKU
CAME
TOME
VIA
MYMOTHER
A
QUIETPOET
WHO
WROTE SOME
READ MORE
AT
18
SHE
SENT
ME
HER
HAIKUS
AND
I
FOUND
BASHO
OR
BASHO FOUND ME
AND
I
FROGGY ( K.I. CALLS BASHOS FROG FROGGY)
AND
LEAPED
AND LEAPED
This makes me indescribably happy. I wish we lived closer to one another…
Me too…
Pingback: Tanzaku | Nexus
I love everything about this blog – the poetry, the photography, the humor. All so beautiful.
Pingback: Heart stone, frog stone, pure stone | Nexus