The roots of Japanese haiku reach back over 1,000 years. In this poetic form, as in life, there is a pause, a shift, in which the poet celebrates sensory awareness of the season, perhaps suggested by the scent of cherry blossoms or the silence of snow-covered tree limbs. The timeless appeal of this understated poetry may be the human desire to capture one?s impressions of a fleeting moment. Such seasonal allusions emphasize the essence of haiku: nature and its ephemeral beauty. This calendar features 12 haiku paired with reproductions of exquisite Japanese woodcuts. Each poem is rendered in Japanese calligraphy, Romaji transliteration, and English translation.
