Carpe Diem, Special Prompt #4

Special #4

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Our fourth Special prompt is on today. Another nice haiku by Basho, a haiku master, for your inspiration. It's again (in my opinion) a wonderful, not so wellknown, haiku by him.

This one he wrote in Spring 1687 and it had a title. In that time a title for a haiku was a commonly used practice. The title of this haiku was: 'Mourning over the death of Priest Tando'.

chi ni taore   ne ni yori hana no   wakare kana

falling to the ground
a flower closer to the root
bidding farewell

As we look closer to this haiku we see how sad Basho was when he heard of the dead of this Priest. He falls to the ground and weeps. Shedding his tears as a farewell. He composes this haiku with that strong feeling of loss and sadness. It could easily be what they call a dead haiku. Every haiku poet wrote his last haiku around the moment that they died, that's why they call that a 'dead haiku'.

To write a new haiku inspired on this one ... not so easy I think, but I have to try it.

last farewell
a last leaf swirls to the ground
compost for new life

Hm ... not a strong one, but it's a haiku in the spirit of Chèvrefeuille, could it be in Basho's Spirit as well?

This Special prompt will stay on 'till October 25th 11.59 AM (CET). Our new prompt for October 25th I will post today around 10.00 PM (CET) and will be tears.

Enjoy the fun of writing a classical or a non-classical haiku, be inspired and share your composed verses with Carpe Diem. Please leave a comment after linking.