Japan
Shinbazu Pond –
even these withered lotuses
can lift my heart
heated toilet seat –
memories of growing up
in a large family
deep-fried pork:
I await instructions
on how to eat it
we look through the dark
to the place where Mount Fuji
is supposed to be
arrival in Kyoto…
I buy flowers for myself
flowers for the Buddha
the clunk of wooden sandals
on stone paving –
Mount Otowa
thatched with water reeds
topped with acer leaves –
Basho-an the poet’s hut
further uphill
autumn birdsong leads the way –
Buson’s grave
wandering poet’s well its stone collar lotus
dusk over the city two small girls in flowery kimono
Japan has been extracted from Maeve O’Sullivan’s latest publication Elsewhere
available from Alba Publishing.
Dubliner Mave O’Sullivan’s poetry and haiku have been widely published, anthologised and translated.
Her four collections are Elsewhere (2017); Initial Response, An A-Z of haiku moments (2011); Vocal Chords (2014); and Double Rainbow (2005) all available at Alba Publishing
Maeve is a winner of the Listowel Writers’ Week poetry competition for a single poem, and conducts haiku workshops with adults and children.
A lecturer in Media Studies, she lives in Dublin
Maeve’s new collection of poetry, Elsewhere is available from Alba Publishing.
