Paperweights
On the picture books outside the shop;
The spring wind.

This hokku -- by Kitô -- is one of those verses in which each part is reflected in the other.  We see the paperweights on the books, and then we feel the spring wind, and realize -- actually feel -- that the books are weighted to keep the pages from fluttering in the gusting, unpredictable wind of spring.  We feel the wind in the paperweights, and we feel the resistant weight of the paperweights in the spring wind.  Both give us a harmony, a unity, a springtime oneness.

The second line is a bit long.  I could have translated it -- slightly losing accuracy -- as just "books,"  but knowing that these are picture books gives us a pleasant feeling of seeing much in little as the spring wind blows.

David