ほろほろ酔うて木の葉ふる
horohoro youte ko no ha furu

slightly drunk
the leaves
are falling
—Santōka

(Tr. David LaSpina)

(Print by Kazu Shimura‡)

As mentioned before, Santoka was a zen monk who loved to drink and struggled with alcoholism his entire life. He once wrote that if he could truly taste saké, that would lead to satori†, and he never stopped following that path. He often wrote that his favorite things in life were saké and haiku. All of his haiku are free-style and they are simple and direct; he thought the ridged 5/7/5 structure was unnecessary and didn't care for allusion or reference to past poems of the greats, nor for any of the word-play that is common in haiku.

Here he is enjoying watching the autumn leaves falling while his head is spinning from saké; the moment so inspired him that even in his tipsy state he pulled out his notebook and recorded this verse.

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Footnotes:

†: Enlightenment in the zen tradition, which is something of a sudden enlightenment, as in a eureka moment when in a single instant your mind shifts and there is total understanding.
‡: Normally I include woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) with the haiku, but this one is a watercolor in the Chinese style using a calligraphy brush (sumi-e).

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Don't miss other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series!

#1–10 — Haiku of Japan, Collection #1
#11 — Her Day Off
#12 — Autumn Crow
#13 — Faint Footprints
#14 — Alone on the Road
#15 — Autumn Begins
#16 — Early Morning Moon Viewing
#17 — Mistaken for a Scarecrow
#18 — The Galactic River
#19 — The Love of Cats
#20 — Autumn Waterfall
#21 — The Thief and the Moon
#22 — My Frozen Balls
#23 — Saké Waves
#24 — Friends with the Moon
#25 — Falling Flower
#26 — Winter Rain and No Hat
#27 - Sleeping Boy
#28 — Reward of Persimmons
#29 - Chestnut Worm

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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. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.