(yoru hisokani / mushi wa gekka no / kuri o ugatsu)
a worm in the moonlight
drills into a chestnut
—Basho
(Print by Andrew Stone)
A simple thing, but he describes it so brilliantly. Basho was all about observational haiku and he avoided bringing in imagined things; we can guess he actually did notice a worm feasting on a chestnut when he was moon-viewing and decided to record a verse about it.
Don't miss other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series!
- Traveling to the inn
- Childless Woman
- Old Dancing Butterfly
- Seeing the Moon
- Checking the Scarecrow
- Skill of Insects
- The Spider Lilies
- A Thousand Green Mountains
- Falling Lead Enlightenment
- Lonely Night
- Her Day Off
- Autumn Crow
- Faint Footprints
- Alone on the Road
- Autumn Begins
- Early Morning Moon Viewing
- Mistaken for a Scarecrow
- The Galactic River
- The Love of Cats
- Autumn Waterfall
- The Thief and the Moon
- My Frozen Balls
- Saké Waves
- Friends with the Moon
- Falling Flower
- Winter Rain and No Hat
- Sleeping Boy
- Reward of Persimmons
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon. |