Fireworks – in old hokku they were an autumn subject, but in America they belong to the Fourth of July — the “Glorious Fourth” as people used to call it.  And as such, they are very evocative of times past. 

Most small towns used to have a Fourth of July parade, with patriotic themes and the last of the old veterans marching in their uniforms from the First World War.  And earlier than that, it was the veterans of the Civil War.  And of course it is the celebration of American Independence, which takes us all the way back to the Revolutionary War.  So mingled with the joy of the celebration, there was an undertone of transience and loss, of the passage of time, and of sorrow and remembrance.

Fireworks are in keeping with the heat of summer; both are yang, and that combined with the yin of dark night makes for a striking contrast.  Often writers used such contrasts to advantage, placing the yang excitement of watching the noisy bangs and flashes and bright sparkles against the yin silence that comes after.

We see that in a verse of Shôha, one difficult to put into English-language form because it is so condensed in the original.  So I am changing it a bit, to make it flow better:

River fireworks;
After the watchers are gone,
The water of summer.

In the original they are “boat fireworks,” fireworks seen from a boat, and the water is the water of autumn.  That makes a significant difference in our experience of the verse — and the season is more critical than the presence or absence of the boat.

Here is an old one I wrote years ago:

Across the valley,
Fireworks light the smoke
Of fireworks.

I hope that all of you who celebrate it will have a pleasant and meaningful Fourth of July.

 

David