うかと来て我をかがしの替哉

absent-minded
I'm the scarecrow's
replacement
—Issa

uka to kite ore wo kagashi no kawari kana

(Issa himself, or his likeness)

This is a fun haiku from Issa showing his self-deprecating humor, telling us that he might be mistaken for a scarecrow. He wrote it in 1814 and returned to the idea a few years later, writing in 1818:

ふいと立おれをかがしの替哉
fui to tatsu ore o kagashi no kawari kana

suddenly I'm
standing, mind gone—
their new scarecrow

I think all of us can relate to both of these haiku. I can't tell you how many times I have stood to do something or gone in a room to do something but then completely forgotten what it was. I suppose I might be mistaken for a scarecrow myself.

Don't miss the other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series!

#1 - Traveling to the inn
#2 - Childless Woman
#3 - Old Dancing Butterfly
#4 - Seeing the Moon
#5 - Checking the Scarecrow
#6 - Skill of Insects
#7 - The Spider Lilies
#8 - A Thousand Green Mountains
#9 - Falling Lead Enlightenment
#10 - Lonely Night
#11 - Her Day Off
#12 - Autumn Crow
#13 - Faint Footprints
#14 - Alone on the Road
#15 - Autumn Begins
#16 - Early Morning Moon Viewing

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.