(Autumn)
Midnight;
With dew-wet eyelashes,
Gazing at the moon.
This hokku was composed by Takai Kitō and translated by David Coomler.
The photo of someone gazing at the moon can be found here.
Gazing at the Moon
(Autumn)
Midnight;
With dew-wet eyelashes,
Gazing at the moon.
This hokku was composed by Takai Kitō and translated by David Coomler.
The photo of someone gazing at the moon can be found here.
Taka Shimono 
Question: Which way does the moon move across the sky: east to west or west to east?
To find the answer, do this: four days after the full moon notice that the gibbous moon is in the western sky at 8:00am. Go outside at 8:00am the next day, also, and notice that the moon is in a different position in the sky. Then, go outside at 8:00am the third day and contrast where the moon is with respect to the two previous mornings. You must make the observations at exactly the same time every morning! Now you know that the moon is actually traveling across the sky from west to east, even though the moon rises in the east and sets in the west.
LikeLiked by 2 people
There are not many times that I would be up at midnight but there is certainly something magical about observing the moon. 8:00am is so much easier! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
A beautiful hokku. There’s something special about looking up at the moon when everything is quiet and no one is about.
LikeLiked by 2 people
In your blog post, David, you write, “The words are just the ‘seeds of poetry’ that burst into bloom in the mind of the reader.” I really like that statement!! It says a lot about what hokku/daoku is. The writer is simply delivering an experience of the senses in as few words as possible, and the reader must be receptive to that, and must interpret it in their own way. Nice explanation, David!
LikeLiked by 1 person