General Common Room
WHR March 2018
Haiku in Kenya
Presented By
Isabelle Prondzynski
I send you below one of my own haiku, and ten written by haiku teachers and students in Nairobi, Kenya. These haiku were written by members of Kenya Saijiki, under the patronage of Dr Gabi Greve in Japan.
All these haiku were written in Kenya during the period between November 2017 and February 2018.
Isabelle Prondzynski (Moderator, Kenya Saijiki)
heavy downpour --
total strangers sharing
a shelter
Isabelle Prondzynski
Haiku by teachers :
café balcony --
the only dusty shoes
are mine
Patrick Wafula
journeying home --
I finally take a nap
in the dusty bus
Andrew Otinga
a crow disappears
somewhere in a gutter --
church building
Antony Waswa
Haiku by students (adults) :
Sunday morning breeze --
the January heat slowly
dissipates
Catherine Njeri Maina
cold morning --
a coffee seller offering
a thermos flask
Newton Etuku
dump site --
a scraggy brown dog struggling
with a bone
Wellington Mulima
Haiku by students (school students)
a new student
coughs persistently in class --
January dust
Derrick Lilumbi
school gate --
a saloon car speeds by
leaving a whirlwind
Beatrice Awino
dusty school hall --
the shape of my sole
on the floor
Derrick Omondi
a dog sniffs
in an empty green can --
dry water taps
Assam Adero
HAIKU OF THE CUT
Moussia Fantoli
1)
luna tagliata
ogni mese il tuo seno
ricostruito
cut moon
each month your breast
reconstructed
2)
grappoli in fiore
di quello che mi manca
sento il peso
bunches in bloom
of that I miss
I feel the weight
3)
la luna impara
la regola del meno
e va calando
the moon learns
the rule of less
and it is waning
4)
porto perduto
rimangono le stelle
su un buio vuoto
lost harbour
stars remaining
over a dark void
5)
grano mietuto
i miei capelli sono
foglie d’autunno
reaped corn
my hair is
autumn leaves
6)
luna d’autunno
le nubi hanno velato
la tua ferita
Autumn moon
the clouds have veiled
your wound
Homage to Senor Terra
Diana Rosen
I attended a workshop with Zapotec language scholar-teacher-poet Victor Terra at a Los Angeles library where he shared a glimpse of the Zapotec languages (there are 56 variations) and its popular form of Japanese-style haiku. Some anthropologists believe that Japanese explorers visited the Oaxacan state of Mexico millennia ago and that explains the haiku in Zapotec. Inspired by Mr. Terra, I set out to capture his story in a series of English-word haiku which I call “Homage to Senor Terra.”
I left my village
for the city but I spoke
not to anyone.
I talked only to
myself, filled notebooks with all
my Zapotec words.
The teacher said, “This
is poetry.” Some call me
poet, but that is
only partly true.
I am a teacher who shares
with all who yearn to
embrace the myths,
beauty, magic, wonder of
being awed by words.
My ancestors flew
down from the clouds on brightly
colored parrot wings
then Aztecs named us
Zapotec, or the people
of the white flowers.
All Zapotec words for
for animals, flowers, fish,
begin with a B,
even God: Beezo.
Life begins with breath, begins,
and ends, with breath.