Agus Maulana Sunjaya (Indonesia)

miles away
from my home village
dandelion seeds

Comment: this classic style ku combines the sense of melancholy and sadness (kanashimi 悲しみ) of the poet who is far from his home village with the fluffy dandelion seeds (tanpopo no wata 蒲公英の絮) carried by the wind. Like them, in fact, he had to ‘leave the nest’ to discover new horizons, to experience new things and meet new people, according to the cycle of life. Anyway, those seeds –which will soon turn into new flowers– still carry their original DNA, creating a deep and indissoluble bond with their mother plant, suggesting us that even the author, now mature and aware of his place in the world, will always belong to his birthplace. The picture in the second ku also reminds me of the story of Hop-o’-My-Thumb, in particular the white pebbles that the protagonist threw to the ground to mark his trail back home.