early Christmas gift -
bough cutters tell us where
they've seen birds

classic hunting haiku #6

This is another hunting haiku from Issa.

1810

大橋や鑓もちどのの跡の雁

ôhashi ya yarimochi dono no ato no kari

big bridge--
the hunter is followed
by a goose

Translated by David G. Lanoue, who includes the following note: "Translations based on Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 9 volumes. Some of the translations first appeared in Issa, Cup-of-Tea Poems and Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa."

fierce wind
a sudden storm
deer camp debate

autumn heat
the setter sets in every
puddle

the scent
of porcupine quills
fills the dog's nose

convenience store banner
greets us at grouse camp -
Welcome Hunters

the deer drag out
always seems to be
uphill

yard sale
clothes hanging from a
deer mount's rack

snowy night
frozen deer hang from
the buck pole

bag balm
after cleaning a limit of ducks
chapped hands

three painted ladies
two dark tiger swallowtails
one shot viceroy

cutting a new belt hole
midway through
my fall grouse trip

summer gun show
haggling over a Winchester
lever action

an old Boy's Life
Sears-Roebuck shotgun ads
estate sale

spring woods
goose honks echo from
leafless hollows

summer morn -
that woodchuck will no longer
eat my garden

guest haiku

another one from Levon Machenry, originally posted here as a comment.

a muzzle flash
from the duck blind...
autumn sunrise

the ground
soft beneath my feet
January thaw

squatting to pee
amidst the
bladder campion

a bull moose
lumbering through
the clear cut

setting sun
a slight breeze as cold air
drains downhill

guest haiku by Levon Machenry

Thanks again Levon. Originally posted as a comment on this blog.

1st day of christmas
i braise the partridge
in pear wine

game preserve
beneath the skeet towers
the squawk of pheasants

Veterans' Day
a glimpse of
the old buck

in the moonlight a worm
silently
gets eaten by a woodcock

winter fog
the woods falling silent
after the shot

abandoned farm
in the foundation cement
a child's handprint

Indian summer
drooping bird hunters
head back to camp

the ducks
all flying into our spread -
jealous neighbors

spotting
the day old fawn -
spring shower

classic hunting haiku #5

Here is another in our series of haiku by Issa.

1824

追鳥の不足の所へ狐哉

oi-dori no fusoku no toko e kitsune kana

heading for where
bird hunters are few...
the fox

The translator notes: "The fox doesn't know that the hunters are only after birds."

Translated by David G. Lanoue, who includes the following note: "Translations based on Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 9 volumes. Some of the translations first appeared in Issa, Cup-of-Tea Poems and Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa."