bolt action
a deer sprinting
and a shot

good grouse year
the trucks all have
dog crates

classic hunting haiku #7

This is another in our series of haiku from Issa.

1822

狩人の矢先としらぬかの子哉

kariudo no ya saki to shiranu ka no ko kana

oblivious
to the hunter's arrows...
a fawn

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."

after grouse camp
the pain of shaving
three weeks' beard

rural ornament
antler sheds on every
tool shed

chasing hounds
along the old railroad tracks
huffing and puffing

guest haiku by Levon Machenry

This was posted here as a comment yesterday. Thanks again, Levon.

autumn sunset
the old man whittles
a new duck call

a grouse drums
the bough cutters
stop to listen

vineyard doe -
mustn't forget a
bottle of red

almost duck season
the docks
pulled up on shore

July heat
on a shelf in the mudroom
freezer paper

and suddenly
the two young fawns
are orphans

ripe blueberries
the shadow of a vulture
circling

drainage pond
the bullfrogs tired from
all the croaking

the white belly
of a cottontail taking
a dust bath

autumn bird hunt
behind the tree
an elk peers

driveway deer
who is more surprised
to see whom?

summer grape
a brood of grouse
struggle to lift off

midsummer vineyard
the deer ignores the grapes
but eats the shoots

tall like a giraffe
prey at the watering hole
awkward fear and grace

summer deer stand
before the thunderstorm
that gun metal smell

spring grouse woods -
filled with the beats of
different drummers

ready for grouse
with their .22s
bough cutters

on deer stand
fighting the absence
of the beast

waxing moon
an owl flies over
the vineyard

three dollar gas -
my fall grouse odyssey may be
an odyssette

game supper
the guest bites down on
a # 6 shot

independence day
leaving for my three week
grouse odyssey

crawling
closer to the big buck -
corn stalk

hunters in the snow
coming back empty handed
evening bonfire