Romanised version “Romaji”:
natsukusa ya tsuwamonodomo ga yume no ato
.
summer grass soldiers only dreams remain
Version in English: Alan Summers
.
The opening line of drifting snow as it segues into 'each of the war dead' is deeply poignant, from the famous brief Christmas trench warfare truce of World War II to Battle of the Bulge (WWII), in December 1944 with around 8 inches of snow (on the ground) and an average temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus 7 C.
And then move forward to Afganistan's 20th and 21st Century winter battles with soldiers from Russia, UK, America, and many other places, and Yugoslavia when President Tito died, and Croatian snow turned red, then into Russia invading Ukraine where bodies lined the winter streets, mothers, children, other non-combatants, and ongoing wars and invasions.
They all have or had a story to tell before, during, and after the snow ceased drifting, and piling up, and eventually gave into Spring melt.
Deeply moving haiku, already a classic.
kindest regards,
Alan Summers
founder, Call of the Page
This is a powerful and poignant haiku tribute to every 'fallen' soldier and their life story cut short and likely to have never been told beyond those in their family and friendship circle. It makes the madness of war all the more absurd and heartbreaking to think of war after war claiming lives and their 'story'.
There just needs to be a much more devoted path for humanity to figure out peaceful mediations in all these senseless devastating wars.
November 14th, 2023 at 9:12 am
drifting snow
each of the war dead
has their story
—Marianne Paul
A winter counter poem to Matsuo Bashō's summer grasses hokku:
夏草や兵どもが夢の跡
松尾 芭蕉
Matsuo Bashō
late June 1689
Transliteration:
夏草 = summer grass 兵 = soldier 夢 = dream 跡 = remain
Romanised version “Romaji”:
natsukusa ya tsuwamonodomo ga yume no ato
.
summer grass soldiers only dreams remain
Version in English: Alan Summers
.
The opening line of drifting snow as it segues into 'each of the war dead' is deeply poignant, from the famous brief Christmas trench warfare truce of World War II to Battle of the Bulge (WWII), in December 1944 with around 8 inches of snow (on the ground) and an average temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus 7 C.
And then move forward to Afganistan's 20th and 21st Century winter battles with soldiers from Russia, UK, America, and many other places, and Yugoslavia when President Tito died, and Croatian snow turned red, then into Russia invading Ukraine where bodies lined the winter streets, mothers, children, other non-combatants, and ongoing wars and invasions.
They all have or had a story to tell before, during, and after the snow ceased drifting, and piling up, and eventually gave into Spring melt.
Deeply moving haiku, already a classic.
kindest regards,
Alan Summers
founder, Call of the Page
November 14th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
This is a powerful and poignant haiku tribute to every 'fallen' soldier and their life story cut short and likely to have never been told beyond those in their family and friendship circle. It makes the madness of war all the more absurd and heartbreaking to think of war after war claiming lives and their 'story'.
There just needs to be a much more devoted path for humanity to figure out peaceful mediations in all these senseless devastating wars.