Summer Summary '23

This is a self-selected collection of haiku, tanka, and dodoitsu poems that I posted on several submission sites this summer.
It is said that this was the hottest summer in the last 100 years, but setting that aside, this summer was personally different from others.

It was a summer that was only possible because I was on note.

If you'd like, I hope you will read this while listening to this.

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❅ Seventeen Sounds

｜Staring contest with a mantis, tilting our heads

Memories of clear blue skies and the Atomic Bomb Memorial Day

Autumn arrives, and my late uncle's diary from the war

Late autumn, a coffee shop where I meet Matisse

These are my humble haiku for a submission app called "Tefutefu" (sponsored by the Mainichi Shimbun?).
Some have been polished through revision.
This is also a site I was told about by a notomo?.

Every single day, countless seventeen-sound poems appear and disappear as if flowing by.
In reality, they remain, but I feel as though they are drifting away before my eyes.
But that might be the case for most submission sites.

　There is a poem that just exists quietly, neither praised nor disparaged

Something like that...

The third poem (about my late uncle from the war...) is the one in the image above.
I posted it during Obon, partly as a memorial.

My uncle passed away in a distant foreign land when he was just around twenty years old.
This summer, I happened to find it inside the family altar and was surprised when I opened it.
To my surprise, there were things that looked like poems written among the diary entries.
However, there are many parts that are difficult to read because they use old kana usage and cursive script.

I will record just a small excerpt of the text I was able to decipher...

　Feeling a sense of loneliness in the flowing clouds
　I stood on the bank of an unnamed river
　The river water is also thin with autumn, and the scenery on the shore is lonely
　Even in the shadow of the weeping willow, the sadness of a short life is visible
　I am now, from the riverbank where nothing blocks the view
　Seeing the lonely figure of autumn in the twilight of the border
　
I don't know if he wrote this before or after he enlisted.
I borrowed it from my parents' house to try and read it again.
I intend to carefully take the time to unravel my uncle's posthumous manuscripts.

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❅ Thirty-one Characters

On a night with Vega at the zenith, I listen to the Spitz CD I borrowed from you

The evening breeze arrives from the west, rustling, rustling, rustling, it is Tanabata

Catching a healthy breeze on the morning after the rainy season ends, the cotton sheets flutter

Summoned by a sunset that seems to invite me to another world, I drive down the highway

The first poem is a repost from the Shun-hai contest. I listened to the CD I (probably) will never return for the first time in over a decade. It is a poem I have a personal attachment to.

The last one is the original version of 'To the Sunflower' that I posted recently.

Summoned by a sunset that seems to melt into the sunflowers, I walk along the ridge path

I wanted to make it 'To the Sunflower', but I followed the rules and made it 'Towards the Sunflower'. It didn't quite capture the feeling I wanted after all (self-reflection).

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❅ Twenty-six sounds (7-7-7-5)

　　　　( ) indicates the theme


The sunset sky is a symbol of eternity
Even if the world ends tomorrow
(Burn)

When I hear the festival music
I hold a lantern and become a star
(Cool)

I thought I didn't like you that much
Love realized only when stolen by another
(Burn)

The sense of the seasons fading year by year
My hometown and my mother grow distant
(Mother)

Returning home late at night to a cold bath
Thinking it's just right, I watch the moon
(Cold)

Recently, I've been composing Dodoitsu (7-7-7-5) like four-panel comics.
Introduction, development, turn, and conclusion. It fits more perfectly than Haiku, Senryu, or Tanka.
The quality of the work changes significantly depending on what kind of punchline it has.

All of these are works submitted to a site called 'It's Dodoitsu' (Marusen Group).
These Dodoitsu are becoming my main focus.

Thanks to the seniors and teachers of Dodoitsu on note!

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❅ Morning Sky (Lyrics)

1. A morning where sunlight filters through the trees
As I stretched out
From the distant sky, like a traveling wind
I heard a voice saying good morning
The start of the newest day

2. A morning where sunflowers bloom
Clouds flowing quietly
The flowers and the greenery are all brand new
Everyone's wishes ride on those clouds
I wonder if they'll circle the Earth and come back

3. From the star-filled sky
The message that arrived
Is always gentle in my memories
Soon the night will break and I'll hear it
A cheerful voice, everyone's good morning

Huh!?
There's a third verse.

Since they are lyrics, I figured there should be a third verse, so I went ahead and made one.
I started making it on a whim, but it turned out quite well (self-praise).
I intended it to be a children's song, so I hope children (somewhere) will sing it cheerfully.

I am deeply grateful to Ohayone-san, who provided the music?.
(There is also talk that I forced them to write the lyrics)
This was also one of the unforgettable events of this summer.

I used to write songs while playing the guitar a long time ago.
They were songs in a different genre, though.
And, one song I wrote the lyrics for even became a CD.
It was an image song for a certain company, but I applied and it was adopted (the composer is quite famous).
I wrote these lyrics while remembering things like that. It was fun.

That concludes Sen-sing's '23 Summer Summary.
Thank you for staying with me for so long.

I would be (very) happy if you could give me your feedback.