千人針貰ひしときの桜かな　　生田比呂志

senninbari moraishi toki no sakura kana

            when he received

            ‘one thousand stitches’ charm…

            cherry blossoms

                                                Hiroshi Ikuta

from “Haiku Shiki” (“Haiku Four Seasons,” a monthly haiku magazine), December 2017 Issue, Tokyo Shiki Shuppan, Tokyo

Fay’s Note:   ‘senninbari’ (stitches by a thousand people) was a charm given to a soldier during WWII in Japan.  A cotton belt with stitches each sewn by a different woman was considered to protect him.