【Update 2024-02-11: This is an outdated version of this article. For a more up to date version, please see: https://laspina.org/sleeping-boy-and-kite-flying/ 】
凧抱たなりですやすや寝たりけり
tako daita nari de suya-suya netari keri
holding his kite
sleeping
peacefully
—Issa
(Tr. David LaSpina)
(Print by Hiroshige)
This is actually a New Years haiku, flying kites being a traditional New Years activity in Japan. But I often think of this haiku when I put my oldest to sleep at night. He is almost 5, and he almost always goes to bed clinging to one favorite toy or another.
Some things never change, eh?
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
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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. |