Day 1, Tokyo
The buildings close now
As the late summer pulls in
A strange soup, this warmth
Day 2, Tokyo
The strings strum, buzzing
Louder than the cicadas
In urban concert
Day 3, Tokyo
All the wide-leg pants
Billow in the wind of change
Not clothes for at home
Day 4, Shinkansen
A saké monsoon
And reversal of engines
More bullets than one
Day 5, Kyoto
War drums are drumming
The fierce tattoo of heaven
Tears rain like iron
Day 6, Naoshima
On the inland sea
Ships Japanese beef, top grade
Some rare works of art
Day 7, Naoshima
The three-shadowed rock
With a bronze lion inside
Keeps the summer heat
Day 8, Tokyo
Ten thousand black disks
Impenetrable rhythms
All the same language
Day 9, Tokyo
Six strings rent in two
Resurrection by dateline
Where summer sounds wait
Day 10, Tokyo
Season ending sleep
Night turning in the darkness
The sapling day grows
Josh Gardiner
Paekākāriki, NZ
About this month’s poem
Josh says: “The Haikus, as titled, are from a trip to Japan, visiting Tokyo, Kyoto and the art island of Naoshima. I challenged myself to write one a day, in the moment of each place – to help remember the holiday in a nice way, and as a writing exercise. There are deeper meanings within each of course which speak to the experience. They are each like a photo to me, a visual snapshot and a feeling.”
