the wind dries
a flowering willow…
my son’s tears
Comment: a moving (kandōteki 感動的), well-balanced haiku. The willow buds (yanagi no me 柳の芽) in the opening ku are associated with the tears shed by the author’s child. The wind, instead of wiping aways his wailing, blows through the branches of the tree, as if to deprive them of the sprouting, fragile flowers. The juxtaposition (toriawase 取り合わせ) is even more meaningful if the plant in question is a ‘weeping willow’ (shidareyanagi 枝垂柳), which usually represents growth, strenght and harmony. In fact, the child has to experience life, making mistakes and learning from them, so as to become a man; at the end of the day, there will always be a paternal hand ready to dry his tears.
