For some years now, I have been interested in visiting shrines at various occasions.
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Today it is Setsubun, the end of the winter according to the old lunar calendar, so I went to Yoshida Shrine, the most famous shrine in Kyoto regarding this occasion, where people say most elderly people in Kyoto gather for the occasion.
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Oh, birds chirp/
Shrine gave me the oracle/
Written on a pale-green paper/
Translation and calligraphy by Chio
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People have long celebrated the day, January 15 as a kind of second New Year Day, because according to the lunar calendar, it marks the first full moon after the New Year Day.
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The well-known shrine in my neighborhood provides rice porridge cooked with azuki beans every year.
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I got some for my mother who will turn 92 in summer, because the porridge is supposed and expected to bring good luck to the elderly.
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I wrote “avoiding disaster”, “inviting happiness”, “health” and “longevity” for her.
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Yesterday my mother and I went to the exhibition venue held annually by my teacher.
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This year we turned in four pretty big works describing four kinds of flowers of the seasons.
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Everyone was very much impressed with my mother’s works.
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It seemed little attention was paid to my works of my own haiku about those flowers.
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My mother is playing a little child’s smile, at the table of the special dishes for the New Year, although they aren’t cooked in an orthodox manner. I just prepared them casually to please my mother.
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I think they brought back her old, fond memories of her childhood days.
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Mother smiles/
Special meal for the New Year/
Brought back her child’s mind/
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Yesterday, it was cold and rainy all day.
Sometimes we practice together.
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Warmth of mother’s calligraphy/
Beats/
Winter rain/
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These are collaboration works with my mother featuring the names of the seasonal flowers by her and my own haiku about them.
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Waking up mother/
Little, pleasant time/
Reflected in the fall sunshine/
Chio
Today, the third Monday of September, is designated as the Respect-for-Senior-Citizen Day in Japan.
When I wake up my 91-year-old mother and help her get ready and have breakfast is my happiest time these days.
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My greatest pastime lately is practicing calligraphy with my mother who turned 91 in July.
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I thought I would practice a lot today. However, seeing my mother nodding off sitting beside me, I myself became sleepy as well….
Drowsiness turns/
Ink slab/
Into late summer sea/
Translation and calligraphy by Chio.
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I wrote this one about four years ago after visiting the facility for the elderly my mother then belonged to for the first time for a fun event for both the elderly and their families, a little concert of reed pipes.
In every household/
Is a good-hearted oldster/
Gourd flowers/
Translation and calligraphy by Chio
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