cold wind

through our torn paper doors

in the month without gods

©️Yamazaki Sokan 1465-1553

:

cold winds

paper tigers tear to shreds

under a new moon

:

cold winds

raze the landscape

winter is near

.

paper tigers tear to shreds

ribbons scatter in the wind

tangling in treetops

.

under a new moon

eyes wide open in a storm

lend a helping hand

:

©️2018 Ontheland

Background: Carpe Diem’s Leafless Tree #2 episode invites haiku inspired by the haiku of Yamazaki Sokan, quoted above, and a troiku formed from each of the lines of the haiku. Sokan’s haiku was written centuries ago in Japan, addressing the cold conditions of a lunar month known then as ‘the month without gods’. His words made me think of violent acts in North America in recent times and how people sometimes rise to such occasions forming broader and stronger communities.