梯子（はしご）より人の匂ひや神無月　　　桂　信子

hashigo yori hito no nioi ya kannazuki

            human smell

            from the ladder—

            a month without gods

                                                            Nobuko Katsura

from “Nihon Dai-Saijiki” (“Japanese Comprehensive Saijiki”), edited by Shuoshi Mizuhara, Shuson Kato, and Kenkichi Yamamoto, published by Kodansha, Tokyo, Japan, 1981

Fay’s Note:   Nobuko Katsura (1914-2004)

It was believed all the gods and deities in Japan gathered in Izumo Shrine in November; thus people (except the ones in Izumo) called the month ‘a month without gods.’