wind–
the prayer lost
in the field
Comment: a haiku that evokes both a sense of melancholy (wabi 侘) and inexplicable depth (yūgen 幽玄) in just 8 syllables and 7 words. A work that puts an accent on the unsaid, creating an ‘empty dimension’ (yohaku 余白) where the scene is portrayed by the surrounding silence rather then by words.
The wind (kaze 風) in the first ku renders the lightness (karumi 軽み) and impermanence (mujō 無常) of the scene in a sensory way, bringing a message of hope (the ‘prayer’ in line 2) that is destined to vanish.
