HAIKU Poem by Monica Kakkar

01
how can one escape
aroma of vindaloo?
New Year’s reunion

02
don’t you have a friend
to watch cherry blossoms with?
grandma’s tea with quips

03
a powder puff sky
puffball of dandelion
I see you, grandma

04
look how they gather
the end of summer, at last
rain-washed canopies

05
cajole like you did
wind chimes hanging from the eaves—
eternal silence

06
linger all night long . . .
wind chimes hanging from a plant
arrangement by you

07
creaks into charpoy
how many corn on the cob
after cornhusking?

08
where does the wind chime
in a dream within a dream?
withered weeping fern

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01
New Year season word, kigo 季語: New Year’s reunion, saikai 再会、再会
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: fragrance, aroma, scent, ka, kaori 香り
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02
Late spring season word, kigo 季語: friend to watch cherry blossoms with, hana no tomo 花の友
(はなのとも)
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: grandmother, grandma, obāsan お祖母さん, お祖母さん
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: tea, cha 茶
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03
All spring season word, kigo 季語: dandelion, tanpopo 蒲公英 (たんぽぽ)
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: sky, sora or ten 空, 天
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: grandmother, grandma, obāsan お祖母さん, お祖母さん
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04
Late summer season word, kigo 季語: end of summer, at last, natsu no hate 夏の果 (なつのはて)
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05
All summer season word, kigo 季語: wind chimes hanging from the eaves, noki shinobu 軒しの
ぶ (のきしのぶ)
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: silence, stillness, calmness, shizukesa 静けさ
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06
All summer season word, kigo 季語: wind chimes hanging from a plant arrangement, tsuri shinobu 釣忍 (つりしのぶ)
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: all night long, all through the night, throughout the night, yo mo sugara 夜もすがら. *A phrase used in the old poetry books, like the Manyo-Shu Poetry collection.
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07
Mid-autumn season word, kigo 季語: corn, koon コーン
North America saijiki all autumn season word, kigo 季語: cornhusking, corn shucking
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08
All winter season word, kigo 季語: withered weeping fern, kareshinobu, kare shinobu 枯忍 (かれ しのぶ)
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: wind, breeze, kaze 風
Seasonless topic, muki 無季: a dream within a dream, yume no mata yume, 夢のまた夢
*yume no mata yume, this is a Japanese expression for something quite improbable.
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The World Kigo Database by Dr. Gabi Greve, Daruma Museum, Japan, is my primary almanac
(saijiki) for season words (kigo), seasonless topics (muki), footnotes about kigo and muki, and for translation of kigo and muki into English.
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