Snow haiku (21st of December 2010)

(Basho, translated by Zoltan Barczikay)

Strictly speaking, Basho's haiku above is not about snow, but it is easy to imagine Basho in his hat and straw sandals who got surprised by the first snow. A year has passed and Basho was caught off guard, unprepared. One could say that I have a feeling similar to that of Basho while waiting for this Winter to pass, because I love Winter only superficially, I love it like a painter does, for light and soft shadows. That is how this post was made, at the beginning of Winter and in the early expectation of Summer.

(Etsujin, translated by Asataro Miyamori)

Winter in Zagreb is ugly and stressful. I think about, for example, whether I will have a place to park my car when I return to one of the concrete hives of the city. Or, whether I will be able to climb that hill on the way to work without problems, or I will wait behind some clumsy driver without the winter tires. Snow rarely persists in Zagreb. Instead, it quickly turns into a brown, salty mash.

But, I would lie if I were to say that I never liked snow. Of course I liked it.

I remember a deep snow "tunnel" that my grandpa had dug long before I had woke up. It starts from the stairs, goes around a pear tree, next to the poplar and then finally to the street. I pass through a tunnel dug in the snow and I marvel at it. It is taller than me. From that I know that it is again a memory of a child. The interior of a tunnel is light-gray-blue with white accents. It seems as if the tunnel is not made of a "real materials" but of some semi-transparent fog that could be scattered with hands. It cannot be scattered with hands. The walls are cold.

(Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue)

It is totally appropriate that this post be the last in this year, and it will probably be so.

Happy Holidays !

Last updated on 21st of December 2010.