正月が二日有ても皺手哉
shôgatsu ga futsuka arite mo shiwade kana
New Year, Second Day,
but already
wrinkled hands
First Month, Second Day
but already
wrinkled hands
I suppose that the first thing a child notices about an aging mother, before the gray hair, are the veins and wrinkles that appear on a mother’s careworn hands.
Kobayashi Issa
Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa (1763 – 1828) offers up this guest haiku. Basho would not object, ther is much to learn from others.
The pen name, Issa (一茶), means “cup of tea” which summarizes the subject matter of Issa’s poems — things to his liking, simple things to be enjoyed, something to think over. Issa gives no date for his poem, but we can guess that he was already advanced in years, if not in his understanding of life’s short lease.
There are perhaps two comments worth making. First, that 正月, shôgatsu in Issa’s time meant the first day of spring by the lunar calendar. For that reason, I suppose, if asked, Issa would prefer the literal “First Month, Second Day”.
Second, that Issa’s life was marked by tragedy and sorrow — the death of his first wife and three children, a failed second marriage, and his home burning down. Issa’s response to this was —
In a world of grief and pain
Flowers bloom
Even then
Issa would enter into a third marriage, but Issa died before the birth of his daughter.
matsuo-basho-haiku 