October -
fragrant fresh shellac on
old snow shoes

Canada goose trilogy

high above
the funeral procession
geese fly south


high above
the wedding procession
honking geese


high above
the homecoming parade
migrating geese


with apologies to Gordon Lightfoot

meadow's edge -
near the rusted harrow
a deer trail

hunting lodge -
a collection of game mounts
collects dust

hunting clothes
always a bit too clean -
Cabela's catalogue

fall morning
a thousand geese above
just out of range

north woods tavern
above the bar -
all those antlers!

drizzle at dusk -
the moss covered logs
unperturbed

classic hunting haiku #9

This is the ninth in our series of classic hunting haiku by Issa.

1824

老鳥の追れぬ先に覚悟哉
oi tori no owarenu saki ni kakugo kana

old bird--
even before the hunt begins
accepting the inevitable

Translator's note: "The old bird knows that it can't fly away from the hunters and their falcons.

"French translator Jean Cholley helped me to understand this haiku; En village de miséreux: Choix de poèmes de Kobayashi Issa (Paris: Gallimard, 1996) 219."

Translation and notes 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."

hunting photos
left by the window -
nursing home

tanka

battered map -
the torn folds hide a
secret spot
I hunted there once
but now can't find it

I set my sights
on the deer.....then
let it go

out for a walk . . .
a family of pheasants
at the fair grounds

working a grouse
deep in the dogwood -
the dog

the flavor
of the jerk rubbed venison -
empty campground

through binocs
he makes out some divers
. . . goldeneye

hidden from sight-
camouflage hunting clothes
in the hall closet

tanka

deer camp sink
full of last night's dishes -
the captain
turns up the propane lamp
and starts making coffee

unexpected snow -
hunters and guns drying out
around the wood stove

bird hunting
the abandoned air strip
- a grouse takes off

thunderstorm
the gun shy dog sleeps
through it all

autumn warmth
the deer sheds its
summer coat

not hearing
the alarm clock -
opening day

early fall
making a mental map
of deer trails

September
we wait for farmers
to cut corn

empty sky -
the duck blind full
of chatter

fermented apples -
deer prints amid
chewed cores

deer drag
me and the deer
out of breath

opening day -
the predawn drive through
sleeping towns

every year -
confusion the night before
opening day