Autumn begins;
Rain spatters the dust
On the stones.
We feel here the transition from the heat and dryness of summer ( seen in the dust on the stones) to the cool damp of autumn (the rain beginning to fall, turning the dust to mud).
It is a new hokku made from the same image used by the sometimes too wordy late 19th-mid 20th century Japanese writer Kyoshi.
Here is his original:
Ishi no ue no hokori ni furu ya aki no ame
Stone on ‘s dust on falling ya autumn’s rain.
One could translate it as:
On the dust
On the stones it falls —
Autumn rain.
David
A lovely verse—I really like its simplicity and the image it evokes.
Thank you. Always a moment of calm enters through your hokku.
What a beautiful hokku. I would imagine that he probably wrote this closer to August 1st. I don’t know when the date for the beginning of Fall changed to the equinox nor why it did so, do you? I prefer August 1 as opposed to Sept 22nd. It makes more sense that the equinoxes and solstices are mid-season dates. Anyway, it’s a beautiful hokku. Thanks for continuing your blog. I always enjoy reading your posts.