青き馬倒れていたる師走かな　　　金子兜太

aoki uma taoreteitaru shiwasu kana

blue horse

fallen down…

December

Tohta Kaneko

from “Haiku Shiki” (“Haiku Four Seasons,” a monthly haiku magazine), December　2012 Issue, Tokyo Shiki Shuppan, Tokyo

Fay’s Note:   Tohta Kaneko (1919-2018)     ‘Shiwasu’ (literary translation: ‘a teacher runs’) is another name for December.   According to saijiki, the word ‘shi’ means ‘a priest (a Buddhist monk, rather?).’    In December a priest who is normally calm runs around to complete his tasks before the year-end.