First Cold Night

Challenge Kigo for November–December: FIRST COLD NIGHT

The impending chill of winter begins in the autumn when we first notice we need an extra blanket at night. Autumn is a season of hunkering down, of melancholy, a time of contemplation. Leaves may be turning colour and the joy of Christmas may be just around the comer, but in late autumn we turn inward—coming indoors both physically and mentally. We are touched by autumn on the first cold night.

my neighbour’s light

goes out too—

the chill of night

             Shiki

The first chill night:

The mother finds herself

Covering up the dolls.

             Cicely Hill (from Haiku World, Kodansha, 1996, page 180)

first cold night

smell of hot dust

from the vent

             Michael Dylan Welch