Koishikawa Korakuen #2

Leaf 109 – Garden Poems

 

This is the second poem in my sequence on Koishikawa Kōrakuen Gardens (see also, Leaf 108 & Leaf 110). It may well be best to scroll down and read the poem before reading the introductory text that follows.

 

I first visited Koishikawa Kōrakuen in May this year, introduced to it by a friend of mine, but ours was a fairly speedy visit. I returned with my wife, only a few weeks later in June, when the garden’s iris beds were at their peak and we spent an enjoyable afternoon exploring every inch of this very lovely garden. Unfortunately, the experience is somewhat impinged by noise from neighbouring Tokyo Dome and its rollercoaster. I rode this rollercoaster back in 2003, and it is certainly not for the faint of heart – so I fully understand and appreciate the occasional acoustic interruption it manifests as its cars periodically thunder past! – But, likewise, this second visit was made on a Saturday afternoon, and so the constant roar of the crowd rising from the imposing egg-like stadium, which looms over one horizon of Kōrakuen, feels a little at odds with the otherwise peaceful and relaxing ambience of the garden – hence I’d recommend visiting on a weekday, as I did on my first visit, when the garden was quieter and also much less crowded.

 

The following poem was written in response to seeing a beautiful white egret slowly pacing across the pool at the foot of a waterfall. We stood entranced by this very elegant, if a little ungainly, bird. Watching, along with a large group of fellow visitors, as the egret – seemingly unperturbed by such a large crowd – ventured ever closer to us. It even crossed a series of stepping stones which took the path in front of us across the channel flowing from the waterfall into the main pond of the garden. But just then, when the egret was at its nearest approach, a lady came quick-footing it down the path, evidently anxious to catch up with her companions who were somehow already some way ahead, and clearly, she was not at all concerned for the nervous sensibilities of the beautiful, long-legged white bird in front of her. The ensuing scene at the stepping stones made for a comical visual-pairing, with each – both egret and old lady – strutting mildly-perturbed, but acutely mindful of their uncertain footing as they each increased their speed, their paths unavoidably converging, and then quickly heading away from one another with feathers ruffled.

Apologies for an overly long-winded explanation of a neat little senryu, which very probably needs no introduction, either lengthy or short:

 

 

Watching an egret

running away from

an old lady in a hurry.

 

 

 

Photographs by Tim Chamberlain