Senryuu containing the word 巷 (chimata)

We had a thread about senryuu (short humorous or quixotic verse) and a
thread where we ended up talking about the shades of meaning of 巷 (ちまた -
chimata) whose meanings range from street or section of town to society,
public, public opinion, etc. Just for the fun of it, I thought I’d try to
find senryuu that contained the word 巷 (ちまた - chimata) and came up with a
couple. Because of the tight, terse construction they are hard to
translate. For example, in the first one, there is no particle between
巷(chimata) and 行く (iku or yuku). I have taken chimata to be the subject
and interpreted it to mean society. However, I can see other
interpretations.

知られたくないことなぜか巷行く　（春日不善）
Somehow, without wanting to know anything, society goes on. (Fuzen Kasuga –
given name first)
ハイヒール春の巷を闊歩する　（夢ー眠）
We strut a street of high-heeled Spring. (Ichimin Yume– given name first)

In the second Senryuu, the pronoun is ambiguous. I thought using the
pronoun ‘we’ made the verse seem more immediate. Note that I translated
巷(chimata) here as street, but I would entertain other interpretations.

The authors' names are pseudonyms. 春日不善 (Kasuga Fuzen – given name last) –
First day of spring mischief. 夢ー眠 (Yume - Ichimin– given name last) –
Dream First Sleep where ichimin (first sleep) might refer to the first of
the four stages of the silkworm’s sleep cycle.

Mata to de,

Phil Yff

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