Without a voice
the heron would disappear -
morning snow
Widely regarded as one of the most important female haiku poets, Fukuda Chiyo-ni was a Japanese poet of the Edo period. She started writing haiku early in her childhood and was strongly influenced by Basho’s poetry (probably because her teachers were his students).
The fundamentals in Basho’s poetry include: sabi (detached loneliness), wabi (poverty of spirit), hosomi (slenderness, sparseness), shiori (tenderness), sokkyo (spontaneity), makoto (sincerity), fuga (elegance), karumi (simplicity), kyakkan byosha (objectivity), and shiZen to hitotsu ni naru (oneness with nature). Fukuda Chiyo-ni was particularly interested in the latter since most of her poetry deals with the realm of nature.
Haiku by Fukuda Chiyo-ni
Picture by Chandler Cruttenden
This haiku poem is part of the Naviar haiku music challenge, where artists are invited to make music in response to a weekly assigned haiku poem. Participation is free and there are no limitations in the songs’ length or genre.
You have seven days from the posting of this haiku to submit your track. For information on how to make a submission, visit the Naviar Haiku Music Challenge page.
Submission deadline: 26th October 2022