(Leaf 38) – Senryu (or, witty tom-foolery)
My wife and I recently composed
a joint haiku – or rather, a senryu (see, Leaf 33). It was a joking response to
one of us suffering from a rumbling tummy the morning after a long night out over-indulging
at a ‘yakiniku’ (Japanese barbeque) restaurant, punning upon the famous haiku
about the sound of a frog jumping into an old pond, written by Matsuo Bashō
(with apologies to Bashō!). We did so purely for our own amusement,
and so we composed it under a non-sensical, shared ‘haijin’ name of “Negibu.”
It conforms in Japanese to the proper 5-7-5 structure of senryu. I will neither confirm or deny which one of us it refers to.
古食堂 食べ過ぎたから 腹の音 葱ぶ
ふるしょくどう たべ すぎたから はらのおと ねぎぶ
Furu
shokudō tabesugita kara hara no oto Negibu
Literally:
Old restaurant having
over-eaten sound of stomach
Which roughly translates as:
Having over-eaten
at the old restaurant
– tummy grumbles.
古池や 蛙飛び込む 水の音
furu ike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto
The old pond – a frog leaps, splash!
