Hi Ben.
You write of haiku (poems) on a Tokonome pot:
The first red leaves in front of the mountain makes
scenery.
Welcome rain drop to the flower of Aronia.
Needles of pine tree sting the sky to change the
color.
I enter to wicket door turn aside from wet willow by
rain.
... SNIP Have any of you ever heard this poem?
Or do any of you know which words are missing?
Why would you think words are missing? It appears someone has added
generously to the original four poems to suggest a reasonable "meaning" for
each.
I recently posted a scroll on the Suiseki Mail List that "reads"
left-to-right, top-to-bottom:
1.KEI --- incline
2.NEN --- nature
3.KAN --- invite
4.CHA --- tea
5.HEI --- jar (for green tea)
The Japanese fellow who sold it offered that it might be intended to say,
"Drink Japanese green tea, if you want to become natural." After exploring
the characters creating the message in the NTC character dictionary (though
I never found the last character & required help for it), I choose to read
it, "Inviting natural feeling-- a tea jar."
The Aronia (j. _Kaido_, a.k.a. 'chokeberry') is a seasonal allusion to
spring. The wet willow is a seasonal allusion to summer. I'd think the
red leaves at the foot of the mountain suggest autumn. "Needles of the pine
tree sting the sky to change the color...," hmmm?
You might use the pot to display a seasonal planting of your choice--
repotting at each season. You might turn the pot to suggest the season for
a cross-seasonal planting. More likely, choose one plant that has a
prefered season and choose the haiku that suppoprts the image.
Alternatively, choose the script that is most appealing (Japanese
enthusiasts of wabi-style tea might choose the most awkward script whereas a
modern suiseki enthusiasts might choose technically well-balanced script)
and the planting of your choice for creating a feeling of nature that is
meaningful to you.
Best wishes,
Chris... C. Cochrane,
, Richmond, VA USA
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