We've been having some storming the past few days. Well, as of the end of June anyway, which is when I'm writing this. No idea when I'll schedule it for. Rain storms are common here, especially in this time of year, but thunderstorms aren't all that common in this area. Since they aren't used to them, my kids have been scared. Of course I feel for them and have been doing my best to soothe their fears. It's kind of funny though because to me thunderstorms are calming. I grew up in Indiana in the US, and Indiana is inside what we call tornado alley. We call it that because in spring we get constant thunderstorms, many of which are bad enough to spawn tornados. As such, my childhood was filled with the music of thunderstorms and I learned to enjoy their sound.

Anyway, I was sitting in my office sipping my tea. As I sipped my tea, I reflected that I probably wouldn't be able to go outside for awhile. That observation provoked me to look over my desk and see how messy it was. Ah... guess I should clean that.

^{Thunderstorm at Enzan, Tokyo by Negoro Raizan}

There are a great many rainy season related kigo (season words) in the haiku world. All of them would be either for mid-summer (which is now by the traditional reckoning of the seasons that haiku follow) or all summer.
Now if I were to translate this to Japanese I'd probably use samidare (梅雨雷) which literally means may rain but is used for rainy season. The traditional Japanese calendar is about a month behind the modern one, so May would be June, perfect for when I wrote it. Another option is tsuyu no rai (梅雨の雷) which is rainy season thunder. That may fit better with what was going on when I wrote this, but then again, the storm is not the focus so... Hmm.... I'd probably go with samidare because then I could add the introspective kireji particle ya and still fit within 5 mora.

As for the rest, I don't know... I'd have to think about it. In English I like to write my haiku in freeform, aiming simply to be short. The traditional idea is a haiku should be no longer than a breath, so I try to stick close to that. In Japan freeform haiku are also a thing and have been for awhile. One of my favorite poets, Santōka, wrote freeform haiku about a hundred years ago, so you see they've been around for awhile. However, I usually try to stick to the more traditional 5/7/5 count when I write in Japanese. The reason is just that my Japanese isn't as good as my English, so having a bit of structure helps me form the poem better.

Anyway after writing the above haiku, I didn't move to clean 😅 I just sat there listening to the rain and enjoying my tea. Then my kids came home and I didn't have time to clean. Such is life, eh? But I did organize a little after they went to bed, so there is a happy ending to the story.

Now how long will it stay clean.... that's the question...

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.