六月の川柳 Two senryu from my trip to Kyushu this June 六月の川柳

Japanese originals　with English approximations.

込む駅をお洒落優先一歩一歩に
komu eki o oshare yuusen ippo ippo ni
[So slow stepping through the crowded station--all the fashion queens]

身がみられお腹をきつく仲良く気
mi ga mirare onaka o kitsuku nakayoku ki
[Given a looking over, I suck in my gut, hoping to make friends]

June 2010

Global Positioning

The symphony gathers talk dying down.

The smell of bugs burning on dusty lamps
reaches the balcony.

Children speculate which came first:
peanuts or peanut butter.

To keep the water moving
cymbals opened to bassoons and cellos

and traffic stopped in a swoon…
and mommy released the brakes….

You wonder if you’re the only one
gone bananas with such gut precision.

Time to shake oneself up to a plate,
any place making your soul feel so big it swims out with the ball.

Mosquitoes

—after Chen Chien-wu 陳千武

For now the standing water stands down.
It’s all over, in no one’s honor.
United, the buzzing charming,
divided, viral advertising.

The angelic hum no longer lulls us
all landings have been sprayed
and under control.
We put our souls to the wheels of motor cameras
and promise broadcasts across the land
as standing water stands down.