Through the gossamer wings
of this still dragonfly
the blooming cosmos
Ant takes inventory
then lives without a crumb
to spread the news
Flying back and forth
through the supermarket,
a frantic sparrow
Beijing rush hour...
horse and cart heading home,
driver fast asleep
With each avalanche
of snow from the branches
an excited bird!
Such a humble bloom
on the ivy, yet see
how it draws bees
A bitter morning
sparrows sitting together
without any necks
From life in this world
spider runs over ashes
right into the fire
Twilight mountains
drifting on a quiet lake...
fish kissing the moon
Deep within the stream
the huge fish lie motionless
facing the current
Japan
thinking about
a simmering soup –
gulls follow me home
golden leaves
around the pickup –
people buy sweet potatoes
the scent of fir-trees –
driftwood floating
down the river
-- Ayako Kobayashi (English versions by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Snowfall –
melting in my mouth,
marshmallow
-- Humi Kobayashi (English versions by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
fireworks over
crickets get on with
their song
-- Yuki Uranus (English versions by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Italy
autumn day –
an island in the brown pool,
coffee-machine
-- Laura Forgnone (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
winter day –
in my aunt's drawyer,
a collection of butterflies
red stain
on the carpet –
a snail retreating
lamp burning hot –
a spider escapes
into darkness
October sun –
the last fly strikes
against the pane
turtle pausing my father's foot
falling leaves
at sunset –
last dragonfly
cherry blossoms in her hair –
the girl buying
a wedding dress
morning fog
young mushrooms
outside my door
footprints on the shore –
snowflakes land
in the water
-- Sara Aguzzoni (English versions by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
magpie
carrying a crystal –
second sun in the water
the wind in cherry-trees
the pool wearing
a white veil
-- Claudia Sandroni (English versions by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
falling leaves –
black butterflies
against the setting sun
-- Elisabetta Tonazzi (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
a spider
on the white sand –
sea water leaves froth
-- Milena Delussi (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Bulgaria
November sadness –
a waterdrop
down the pane
after rain,
slimy mushrooms among
rotting leaves
-- Ivelina Doicheva (Engslih version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
winter solstice –
the fly's
frozen flight
-- Ana Doicheva (Engslih version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Romania
fading moon –
out of the mist,
morning birds' song
softly lit by moonlight,
a sunflower head
on the table
new apartment block
the smell of freshly-cut
cherry wood
black smoke
coiling up against the moon:
mother's hair
first snow –
children cut the icing
off a cake
the scent of pinewood
blends with my breath –
his perfume
radiant sunbeams
a spider in the centre
of his shining web
steep riverbank –
a duck hides beneath
translucent icicles
how many rainbows
this sunny morning!
mother's necklace
piano music...
a cherry blossom petal
stuck to the wet pane
December midnight
an icicle dripping
with stars
-- Anita Beloiu (English versions by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
St. Patrick's Day
see how trees have turned
green
-- Daniel Relea (English versions by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Poland
balmy breeze –
hazy moon exhaling
butterflies
-- Malgorzata Winiarska (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
inside a hollow oak –
twilight
-- Ignacio Aragones (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
lying in the grass...
staring at me,
a big-eyed grasshopper
-- Sergio Angulo (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
beach in Carvoeiro –
crabs moving
towards the sun
little girls
dancing in a circle
to crickets' song
-- Cristina Afonso (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Sweden
winter rain –
a withered fir-tree
sliding down the slope
-- Svante Welin (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Germany
morning dew –
from the dark grove,
the smell of mushrooms
-- Sabine Hoffmeister (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
heads dipped in water...
three ducks at the close
of the day
-- Bianka Stierhof (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
yellowed envelopes...
salty water
in the rock pool
-- Volker Gebhart (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
first day of spring... a yellow butterfly, a flash before my eyes
-- Carolin Schneider (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Malaysia
peal of thunder
a pond-skater
pausing
-- Wei Sun (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
India
Indian summer –
a dragonfly's shadow
finds its way in the grass
a country road
lit with first snow –
December night
geeze heading
into the yellow sunset –
Indian summer
-- Hrishi Ballal
Mongolia
Misty sunrise –
tears of birds
shining on leaves
Autumn night –
a girl sighs,
sound of a falling leaf
-- Tsogbadrakh Dashdondov (English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Gabon/France
washing on the line
perfume
escaping
-- Francis Landao (Gabon/France)
(English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
Congo
thinking of
buying new clothes -
cherry trees in blossom
-- Guy Roger Bakekolo
(English version by the author and Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
