Su Wai Hlaing
The first is Su Wai Hlaing, a nurse currently working in Singapore, but originally from Burma.
Like many of us Su uses her haiku and senryu to focus on the moment, to preserve it. She says “A good haiku should be one which is honest and like water which flows smoothly and softly in the reader’s mind.” I like that definition, don’t you?
She also had some recommendations for reading, which I are at the bottom of the page.
When she’s not working or writing haiku she loves to climb mountains, run, travel and undertake other creative pursuits such as drawing and painting.
chimes of cathedral
I read the words of
silent beggars
I savoured the contrast between the sound of the bells and the silence of the beggars. The implication of the richness of the church and the poverty of the beggar. I think that Su achieves what she set out to achieve, the images and the poetry do flow smoothly and softly in my mind. Thanks Su. Looking forward to haring more from you, and if you would like to read more here’s the link to Su’s blog.
Recommended reading from Su:
-
- Basho: the complete haiku
- Matsuo Basho: Lips too chilled, The Classic Tradition of Haiku
Mineko Takahashi
Staying on the asian continent we turn to Japan, where one of our regular contributors resides, Mineko Takahashi. Mineko inspires me not just with her language abilities, and her work ethic but almost every time we correspond she starts my brain fizzing with new ideas for topics.
in our hands
flowers remain longer
than their fruits
I thought this was a very clever observation. I asked Mineko where it came from. “What inspired me is the fact that we eat cherries so eagerly and quickly when they are put on a table for eating, but we admire cherry blossoms for as long as from the start of their buds’ starting to bloom till petals all fall, and even after, on the ground feeling them with our feet as we walk.” Of course Mineko lives in a country of cherry trees, for me, when I read this I thought of apples, watching the buds, through to seeing the blossoms flying in the wind and landing on the ground and the pleasure of gobbling up the fruit. Thanks as always Mineko for your lovely piece.
How to contact Mineko:
Instagram accounts:
your_private_japanese_tutor
ur_japanese_tutor
Facebook:
@yourjapanesetutor
