Kare-eda

枯枝ほきほき折るによし
(尾崎放哉 1885-1926)

kare-eda hoki hoki oru ni yoshi
(Ozaki Hosai 1885-1926)

dead branches:
good for
snapping


I couldn't find 'hoki hoki' in the dictionary, not even at dic.yahoo.co.jp, but from context it's clearly the onomatopoeic sound of breaking dead branches. It presumably means the same as 'poki poki' which is in the dictionary, with the example sentence even using 'kare-eda'. I'm pretty sure I've had a similar experience before of looking for an onomatopoeic word, not being able to find it, and then finding it in a slightly different form. Incidentally, 'boki boki' is also in the dictionary, with the suggested translation, 'crunch', for breaking wood, metal or bones.

This is an almost ridiculously simple poem, but I like it with its pleasure in sound. Having written that, I suppose darker interpretations are possible, with the undertones of decay or the fragility of age perhaps. Still, until someone proves to me that it's a dark poem I'll think of it as upbeat. The previous haiku had fourteen sounds, and this one only has thirteen (rather than the seventeen of 5-7-5) but Ozaki wrote them even shorter, and probably his most famous haiku (certainly judging by its internet presence) 'seki wo shite mo hitori' (even when I cough I'm alone) had only nine sounds. That one's more difficult to think of as upbeat.

Alternate searches

'kareeda', 'hokihoki oru'