The Spring of My Life

Aluminium butterflies

We’re off.

Nav and I fly out today, rising to meet the sun as we head towards its eastern origin. On Tuesday morning UK time, we’ll be landing into the Tokyo twilight.

I foreshadowed this before, but I’m going to try to keep a haibun travel diary, like Bashō did on his trip to the deep north. It’s a diary of prose interspersed with haiku I write and maybe haiku written by others.

I am given to understand from my almanac that in April, Mercury is in retrograde: the gods’ messenger appears to reverse his transit in the heavens. Anciently this causes chaos: let’s hope so. Some such chaos has already been indicated: by coincidence, some of my closest friends have also decided to descend on the land of the rising sun. Alongside, spring is warming the blossoms to foliage, as mercury rises both literally and literally. I hope to enjoy figurative warmth too.

Readers ought to prepare themselves for very significant train content. It is more than I can bear to avoid mentioning how much I love the Liz Line and its smooth swoop over to the airport; and the historic steam train one sees puffing around when passing Southall en route.

My favourite haiku poet is Kobayashi Issa - dirt poor but humorous - and it is after his haibun of the same name - the Spring of my Life - that these postcards from Japan will be named. Let me leave you with a poem from him and a poem from me:

Issa:

As simple as that -

Spring finally arrived

With a pale blue sky.

G:

Heathrow’s sky-sized space -

Aluminium butterflies

Promise adventure.

Sayōnara for now!