Momoko Kuroda (b. 1938) is a remarkable haiku spirit and a powerfully independent Japanese woman. The one hundred poems here—her first collection in English—show her evolution as a poet, her acute lyricism, and her engagement as a writer in issues central to modern Japan: postwar identity, nuclear politics, and Fukushima. Abigail Friedman's introduction and textual commentaries provide important background and superb insight into poetic themes and craft.

I wait for fireflies / I wait as if for someone / who will never return

Momoko Kuroda is one of Japan's most well-known haiku poets.

Abigail Friedman lives near Washington, DC, and is author of The Haiku Apprentice.