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Haiku poems composed during the Northern Horizons
-
North Main Island
and Hokkaido Tour
2006
Thunder threatening
Nonchalant fox saunters by
This is my kingdom
(voted winner) Japanese translation of
winning haiku
Raimei ni
Okoku yogiru
Kitakitsune
On hills evasive
In a cage bold, beguiling
Squirrel gets his nuts
Frantic traffic roars
Along the stilted serpent
Below the river sighs
The bear debauches
Emitting sulphurous fumes
Aching limbs unwind
Perspiring walker
Agile bear chasing honey
For whom tolls the bell?
Nigel Perry
Charming ladies
Mystery unexplained
O Munakata
(voted second)
Heat wave in August
Ice block sweats its life away
Abashiri Prison
(voted third)
At night beside you
The dark sea, awake, breathing
Teasing our senses
Hokkaido 's challenge
Asahidake conquered
Hike Japan again
We hike Hokkaido
To find cows, chipmunks, snakes, deer
And only one, lonely sheep
Stephen Wentworth
Claw marks on a tree
Hokkaido Brown Bear nearby
Daunting possibility
Inhospitable
Land normally snow-covered
Hosts fragile flowers
Sitting in the onsen
Watching sunset gently drifting
A large wasp attacks
‘What country?' she asked
‘Do you like Japanese baths?'
‘Fantastic' I said
Paula Perry
Paper here cans there
Non-combustible somewhere else
O bung it in the bin
(voted second)
Haiku Hokkaido
Struggle, struggle in the heat
Where's my Sapporo ?
Where have all the bears gone
Hiding in Shiretoko
Dare we walk the path?
I just saw one sheep
Tame in a Hokkaido field
O Murakami!
Sweating going up
Sweltering on the way down
Now the hot onsen
Kate Wentworth
A park full of beer
Sapporo I adore you
My idea of heaven
Up at four-thirty
Onsen around six-thirty
Bob's tours never rest
Bears all around us
What a tasty treat we make
Our defence … a bell
Drummers, warriors
Dancing, marching band, bondage
A dog, Neputa
Keith Harding
Chocolate-coated crisps
I just couldn't resist them
Plastic replicas!
(voted second)
Not as potent as
The essence of this haiku
Hiker's smelly socks
On Rausu-dake
Bear crashing through undergrowth?
No, someone's fallen!
Campanula and primrose
Jewels around the peaks. Summer
On Daisetsuzan
Bob Heffill