Rosa Maria Di Salvatore (Italy)

ripe grapes…
the sour taste
of his words

Comment: a haiku that contrasts the sweet (amai 甘い), flavorful taste of ripe grapes with the sourness (shibumi 渋味) of the words of the poet’s lover, causing a broad and engaging emotional response in the reader’s mind. The ellipsis (…) serving as a cutting mark (kireji 切れ字) seems to shape just three ripe and rounded grapes (budō 葡萄), substantiating a ‘smooth’ transition to a clear and emotionally strong juxtaposition (nibutsu shōgeki 二物衝撃, ie a ‘clash between two different images’). The alliteration of the sound ‘r’ throughout the poem makes the scene even rougher and harder (mainly from a sentimental point of view), while the vowels ‘a’ and ‘e’ in line 1 partially soften the opening ku, reinforcing the sense of sweetness and pleasantness given by the fruit.