Tanabata special
Double seventh festival haiku
In Japan, today is Tanabata (evening of the seventh), aka the Star Festival, which celebrates the legend of two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi (Vega & Altair), who are separated by a river (the Milky Way) & can only, with the aid of magpies, meet once a year on July 7th. It is the custom on this day to write wishes on strips of colored paper & attach the strips to bamboo trees. According to Wikipedia, boys wish to improve their handwriting while girls wish to improve their sewing. As I am a boy, with the following haiku, that’s where I begin.
haiku variations for Tanabata
my penmanship grieves
I draw ink from taro dew
paper crossing to love
a river of stars
crossed over by magpies
on their wings we meet
a river of stars
crossed over by magpies
paper crossing to love
my penmanship grieves
crossed over by magpies
on their wings we meet
a river of stars
I draw ink from taro dew
paper crossing to love
I always do my tanabata with colorful papers
with my deepest heart s power
I had no idea of this tradition, thank you for sharing this. The fact that magpies get to play intermediators and represent something positive for once is amazing. Or is it even possible that magpies bring lovers together? Love your poem, the repetitive themes keep going and coming full circle.