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copyright (c) 1996 Alexey Andreyev
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Some haibuns from MOYAYAMA
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Early morning. I walk home from the railway station. Without my footsteps
the silence would be perfect. Then - a burst: three or four alarmclocks
start ringing at 7:00 in the houses around me. And silence again; but
now it's not the same silence that was before.
spring morning -
your little watch
left on the edge of the sink
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Flower Row of "Nekrasovsky" Market - what a cocktail of scents! On one of
the counters lies a pack of condoms. A vendor takes a condom and cuts it
into thin rings with the scissors; then pulls the rings on tulip buds, so
that the flowers won't open till their time comes. But they won't wait for
long: tomorrow is the 8th of March, Women's Day, and a lot of men will run
around with these impatient but thoroughly ringed tulips.
"marrrch!" -
her cat rubs up the legs
of every chair in its way
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Met an acquaintance. "I'm going back home," she said. "When?" I asked.
"In a month. No, three weeks and four days." She is from East Germany.
sudden snow
during warm March: today
I won't speak English
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Sitting in the laundromat, browsing Glamor; a grey-haired man comes in
and stares at washers and dryers with great curiosity. Then he askes
me to explain how to operate them, and I show him what I've learned not
so long ago. He doesn't look like a foreigner or a hillbilly though.
Perhaps, someone else used to do laundry for him, but today he has to do
it himself for the first time. When I'm about to leave he waves to me
with his hand.
after laundry -
some stains are less visible
but visible
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Doing dishes after lunch; suddenly - someone shuffles by the porch. I jump
to the window - "mailman!". No, just garbage people... and it's still snowing.
snowstorm
my cigarette stub
disappearing slowly
After the snowstorm - the town is clear, quiet. School and work are cancelled;
students walk around, playing with snow like kids. A lot of people in "Blue
Moose:" talking, playing chess. Someone's white "toyota," stuck in the
intersection. Four guys try to push it out, but it's hopeless. Today's
Pedestrians' Day; today's my day.
brushing the snow
out of her hair
she stares
at a mannequin
in the bridal shop window
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Published in:
"Woodnotes" #28 (tanka);
Alexey Andereyev, MOYAYAMA. Russian Haiku: Diary.
A Small Garlic Press, 1996 (forthcoming).