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Haiku poems composed during the Imperial Pilgrimage Tour
October 2006
I spoke with the moon
In the darkness of my night
Deep silence replies
(voted winner)
Two Japanese translations of this poem
Autumn deepens
Many summers pass
Who among us sees the spring?
Existentialism saves
Highway haiku raves
Pollyannas's girlish ways
Barbara Gansmiller
Busy roads, busy life
Yet down side streets and pathways
An island of calm
Isolated walks
Footsteps echo through endless woods
Serenity found
Two weeks have passed
I will remember these times
With the friends I've made
John Walker
Moss softens footsteps
Through aeons of time
Still reborn
Winter wonder
Red, yellow, gold
Silenced by snow
Wet road snakes down valley
Serpent changes skin
To sunshine
Spring symphony
Flowers in profusion
Each perfect
Rosie Baldwin
Wolves should be dancing
Not skin lost in dusty drawers
Spirit rest in peace
The perilous descent
Almost kills inspiration
But, poet master
You were always on my mind
Autumn in Japan
Moss green steps, zen rock gardens
What's this on my plate?
Ann Tobin
Echoes in the pines
Pondering tranquillity
Hikers in a queue
Light flooding garden
Water ripples from a stone pool
Bamboos welcome sigh
Knees are aching now
Moss covered steps lead us down
Shrines lead us home
Sue Williscroft
Sixty one years on
Since the end of World War II
Yoshino autumn
Sasa grass sways
Silence at Saigyo's hut
Autumn leaves falling
Thinking of you
I climb the steps with care
But my heart is broken
Bob Heffill
Thanks to Yoko Mazaki and Ai Shimomura for the Japanese translations of the haiku poems.