Three Haiku, Two Tanka

By Philip Appleman b. 1926 Philip Appleman

(Kyoto)

CONFIDENCE

(after Bashō)

Clouds murmur darkly,

it is a blinding habit—

gazing at the moon.

TIME OF JOY

(after Buson)

Spring means plum blossoms

and spotless new kimonos

for holiday whores.

RENDEZVOUS

(after Shiki)

Once more as I wait

for you, night and icy wind

melt into cold rain.

FOR SATORI

In the spring of joy,

when even the mud chuckles,

my soul runs rabid,

snaps at its own bleeding heels,

and barks: “What is happiness?”

SOMBER GIRL

She never saw fire

from heaven or hotly fought

with God; but her eyes

smolder for Hiroshima

and the cold death of Buddha.

Philip Appleman, “Three Haiku, Two Tanka” from New and Selected Poems, 1956-1996. Copyright © 1996 by Phillip Appleman. Reprinted with the permission of the University of Arkansas Press, www.uapress.com.

Source: New and Selected Poems 1956-1996 (University of Arkansas Press, 1996)

Biography

Poet, novelist, editor, and Darwin expert Philip Appleman is known for his biting social commentary and masterful command of form. The author of numerous volumes of poetry, three novels, and half a dozen collections of prose, Appleman’s range of subject matter includes Darwin, politics, morality, and sex. Art Seidenbaum in the Los Angeles Times described Appleman’s second novel, Shame the Devil (1981) as entertaining and . . .

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