I'd like to try and experiment with you here.
I'm going to recite a haiku poem in English and then in Japanese.
And I would ask if you would consider one word to describe how the one in English makes you feel.
And then one word to describe how the one in Japanese makes you feel.
And if you want,
At the end,
To share it in the comments.
I would just be curious.
Maybe it's the same word,
Or maybe you feel quite different when you hear one or the other.
This is from the poet Basho,
Who is maybe the most famous haiku poet of all time.
And the English version.
Goes as follows.
One translation.
This is the English version that I sort of enjoy the most.
It goes like this.
The old pond.
A frog jumps in.
I'll say it again,
You see how this one makes you feel.
The Old Pond.
A frog jumps in.
You can take a moment to consider if there's a certain word or maybe this one.
Might feel different if I say it this way.
Where'd my little guy go?
The old pond.
A frog jumps in.
Now that might feel different.
Or not.
Okay.
And now.
.
.
The Japanese version.
This one is the traditional haiku structure,
Five syllables,
Seven syllables,
And then five syllables.
And it goes like this.
I'll try my best.
Old IKEA.
Kawazu Tobikomu Mizu no Oto Furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto.
And now how does that one feel?
If you could find one word to describe.
Your experience of the Japanese version.
Furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto.
I can combine them.
The old pond,
Puru Ikea.
A frog jumps in.
Kawazu Tobikomu.
Plop,
Or the sound of water.
Mizu no Oto.
And you can see the 575 in Japanese,
Furuikeya.
Kawazu Tobikomu Mizuno Oto.
So let me know if there was a difference.
To me,
Poetry is just,
It's something to get you into the present moment,
To get you out of the thinking mind,
Out of the future and past.
Whether that's on the side of writing a poem or receiving,
Taking one in.
So here I would invite you to share,
If you want to,
One word to describe how the English version felt,
One word to describe how the Japanese version felt.
And if you want to write in a haiku of your own in the comments,
I would love to read it.
And there's no element of good or bad or right or wrong,
Just something that comes through you in the present moment.
If you want to use the structure of haiku,
Three lines,
Five syllables,
Seven syllables,
Five syllables.
I would love to read yours.
