Kobayashi Issa: Poems

A bath when you're born

Kobayashi Issa

A bath when you're born

His death poem:

        A bath when you're born,
        a bath when you die,
        how stupid.

A cuckoo sings

Kobayashi Issa

A cuckoo sings

A cuckoo sings
to me, to the mountain,
to me, to the mountain.

A huge frog and I

Kobayashi Issa

A huge frog and I

A huge frog and I,
staring at each other,
neither of us moves.

All the time I pray to Buddha

Kobayashi Issa

All the time I pray to Buddha

All the time I pray to Buddha
I keep on
killing mosquitoes.

Asked how old he was

Kobayashi Issa

Asked how old he was

Asked how old he was,
the boy in the new kimono
stretched out all five fingers.

Blossoms at night

Kobayashi Issa

Blossoms at night

Blossoms at night,
and the faces of people
moved by music.

Children imitating cormorants

Kobayashi Issa

Children imitating cormorants

Children imitating cormorants
are even more wonderful
than cormorants.

Don't know about the people

Kobayashi Issa

Don't know about the people

Approaching my village:

        Don't know about the people,
        but all the scarecrows
        are crooked.

Don't worry, spiders

Kobayashi Issa

Don't worry, spiders

Don't worry, spiders,
I keep house
casually.

Ducks bobbing on the water

Kobayashi Issa

Ducks bobbing on the water

Ducks bobbing on the water--
are they also, tonight,
hoping to get lucky?

Even on the smallest islands

Kobayashi Issa

Even on the smallest islands

Even on the smallest islands,
they are tilling the fields,
skylarks singing.

Even with insects

Kobayashi Issa

Even with insects

Even with insects--
some can sing,
some can't.

Face of the spring moon

Kobayashi Issa

Face of the spring moon

Face of the spring moon--
about twelve years old,
I'd say.

Having slept, the cat gets up

Kobayashi Issa

Having slept, the cat gets up

Having slept, the cat gets up,
yawns, goes out
to make love.

Hey, sparrow!

Kobayashi Issa

Hey, sparrow!

Hey, sparrow!
out of the way,
Horse is coming.

How much

Kobayashi Issa

How much

How much
are you enjoying yourself,
tiger moth?

I'm going out

Kobayashi Issa

I'm going out

I'm going out,
flies, so relax,
make love.

In spring rain

Kobayashi Issa

In spring rain

In spring rain
a pretty girl
yawning.

In these latter-day

Kobayashi Issa

In these latter-day

In these latter-day,
Degenerate times,
Cherry-blossoms everywhere!

In the thicket's shade

Kobayashi Issa

In the thicket's shade

In the thicket's shade
a woman by herself
singing the rice-planting song.

In this world

Kobayashi Issa

In this world

In this world
we walk on the roof of hell,
gazing at flowers.

It once happened

Kobayashi Issa

It once happened

It once happened
that a child was spared punishment
through earnest solicitation.

Last time, I think

Kobayashi Issa

Last time, I think

Last time, I think,
I'll brush the flies
from my father's face.

Napped half the day

Kobayashi Issa

Napped half the day

Napped half the day;
no one
punished me!

Napping at midday

Kobayashi Issa

Napping at midday

Napping at midday
I hear the song of rice planters
and feel ashamed of myself.

New Year's Day

Kobayashi Issa

New Year's Day

New Year's Day--
everything is in blossom!
I feel about average.

New Year's morning

Kobayashi Issa

New Year's morning

New Year's morning:
the ducks on the pond
quack and quack.

No doubt about it

Kobayashi Issa

No doubt about it

No doubt about it,
the mountain cuckoo
is a crybaby.

Not knowing

Kobayashi Issa

Not knowing

Not knowing
it's a tub they're in
the fish cooling at the gate.

Not very anxious

Kobayashi Issa

Not very anxious

Not very anxious
to bloom,
my plum tree.

Pissing in the snow

Kobayashi Issa

******* in the snow

******* in the snow
outside my door--
it makes a very straight hole.

Seen

Kobayashi Issa

Seen

Seen
through a telescope:
ten cents worth of fog.

Summer night

Kobayashi Issa

Summer night

Summer night--
even the stars
are whispering to each other.

That pretty girl

Kobayashi Issa

That pretty girl

That pretty girl--
munching and rustling
the wrapped-up rice cake.

That wren

Kobayashi Issa

That wren

That wren--
looking here, looking there.
You lose something?

The crow

Kobayashi Issa

The crow

The crow
walks along there
as if it were tilling the field.

The man pulling radishes

Kobayashi Issa

The man pulling radishes

The man pulling radishes
pointed my way
with a radish.

The moon tonight

Kobayashi Issa

The moon tonight

The moon tonight--
I even miss
her grumbling.

The pheasant cries

Kobayashi Issa

The pheasant cries

The pheasant cries
as if it just noticed
the mountain.

These sea slugs

Kobayashi Issa

These sea slugs

These sea slugs,
they just don't seem
Japanese.

The snow is melting

Kobayashi Issa

The snow is melting

The snow is melting
and the village is flooded
with children.

The toad! It looks like

Kobayashi Issa

The toad! It looks like

The toad! It looks like
it could belch
a cloud.

This moth saw brightness

Kobayashi Issa

This moth saw brightness

This moth saw brightness
in a woman's chamber--
burnt to a crisp.

Under my house

Kobayashi Issa

Under my house

Under my house
an inchworm
measuring the joists.

Under the image of Buddha

Kobayashi Issa

Under the image of Buddha

Under the image of Buddha
all these spring flowers
seem a little tiresome.

Visiting the graves

Kobayashi Issa

Visiting the graves

Visiting the graves,
the old dog
leads the way.

What a strange thing

Kobayashi Issa

What a strange thing

What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.

Windy fall

Kobayashi Issa

Windy fall

At my daughter's grave, thirty days
after her death:

        Windy fall--
        these are the scarlet flowers
        she liked to pick.

With my father

Kobayashi Issa

With my father

With my father
I would watch dawn
over green fields.

Writing shit about new snow

Kobayashi Issa

Writing **** about new snow

Writing **** about new snow
for the rich
is not art.

— The End —