Carpe Diem #210, Mijikayo (short night)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to start a new month of Carpe Diem. As I started this daily haiku meme last October I hadn't thought that it would exist after a few months, but as we all have seen ... Carpe Diem is still there and its a joy to host this meme for you. Carpe Diem is still alive and kicking (smiles).
In May we were busy with Tarot-cards and now we are going back to our normal way. This month (as I did with Winter and Spring) the prompts are all classical Japanese kigo (seasonwords), words with a reference to the season in which the haiku is written, of Summer. In the other months of kigo it wasn't easy to prepare the episodes and it was also not easy to write haiku with those classical kigo, so another challenge for you all and for me.

By the way: I have already started with the preparing of our prompt-list for July and in that month our Specials will be written by Jane Reichold, one of the most and well-known haiku-poets of our time. And I think that will be a joy. Because she is still alive I have to ask for her permission to use her haiku. So I hope to contact her about that and maybe I will ask her some questions too. We will see ...

Credits: Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

Today our prompt, the first Summer kigo is Mijikayo (short night). As I did in the other months of classical kigo I have chosen kigo for 'early', 'mid' and 'late'Summer. Short Night, and I think that's no surprise, is a early summer kigo, because it's about the shortest night of the year, the Summer Solstice (this will occur on 21th June 05:04 GMT, so in my country, The Netherlands, that will be two hours later on 07:04 CET, because we have daylight-saving time or summer-time).

I found a really nice haiku by Buson (1716-1784), one of the four greatest haiku-masters, which I love to share here with you all.


the short night -
broken, in the shallows
a crescent moon


A wonderful haiku don't you think too?  Another 'short night'- haiku, but now written by Issa (1763-1827).


in the short night
the dew works fast -
blades of grass


A last example, now a haiku by Basho (1644-1694):


washing my feet
I fall asleep for the short night
with my clothes on


All wonderfully composed haiku by those classical haiku-masters. It's really a joy to read the old masters and try to be as good as they were, but ... if I can as good as them? I don't think so ...


in an eye-blink
I lay down asleep
and awake


finally Summer
this shortest night of all
I love the most


I hope you liked reading this first episode of June and I am looking forward to all of your wonderful haiku. This prompt will stay on 'til June 2nd 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode, koromogae (switching clothes), later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).