Thursday, January 31, 2013

Carpe Diem #110, Verdant (provided by Bjorn)



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another month of Carpe Diem has gone by and now we are entering a new month with awesome prompts. This month we will share again on very different prompts and I have used prompt suggestions given by you, my dear Haijin, visitors and travelers. If you have suggestions for prompts? Please share them HERE and I will use them for the months coming. Or if it's a nice prompt I can use it in this month.

As you can see I have created a new logo for Carpe Diem, as I have done every month. The logo for this month is a wonderful picture of sprouting apple blossoms. Well ... February has started and our first prompt for Carpe Diem is Verdant provided by Bjorn Brudberg of Bjorn Brudbergs writings  I first didn't understand the meaning of Verdant so I had to search for it and I found that Verdant is a kind of Green, but it's also 'blooming', 'inexperienced', 'rustic' and 'leafy'. So maybe with those synonyms I can write a few new haiku.
As you maybe know, English isn't my maiden language and sometimes I find it hard to write haiku in English, because of not understanding some words as e.g. Verdant the prompt for today.

verdant plum buds
after a warm late Winter day
the Plum is blooming


Credits: Plums

the Plum is blooming
unexperienced as she is
will once share plums


unexperienced poet
tries to write his first haiku
words blooming in his mind

words blooming in his mind
finally he has managed the form
young haiku master


What a joy to write haiku. Be welcome to share yours on 'verdant'.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 2nd 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new prompt, provided by YerPirate, 'staff, walking stick' later on today around 10.00 PM (CET)




Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Carpe Diem #109, Early Blossom



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today we have our final prompt of January ... I have read wonderful haiku this month and I am so glad that our Carpe Diem community is growing. We could welcome a few new contributors and I hope that they will stay and post their haiku on Carpe Diem. The day before yesterday we had our last Special by Shiki and I enjoyed reading your haiku inspired on the ones by Shiki. Next month I will share haiku written by one of the female haiku masters, Chiyo-ni, in the Specials.
I have already published our new prompt list for February. That list you can find HERE I think I have created a nice list of prompts for our new Carpe Diem month and I hope to see wonderful haiku written by you, my dear haijin, visitors and travelers.

Back to today. I first had chosen the prompt 'cherry blossom', but that's more a prompt for our March month of Carpe Diem in which I will share classical Japanese kigo (seasonwords) for Spring. So I changed the prompt for today to 'Early Blossom'.


Early Plum Blossom

The Plum blossoms in late winter at the end of February. So this is a nice theme for a new haiku on 'Early Blossom'.

early blossom
is it the cherry tree or the plum?
Ah! that sweet perfume

Or what do you think of the early blossoms of the Forsythia? (I don't know if you're familiar with the Forsythia, but here in The Netherlands it's a common bush and it blossoms in late winter).


Credits: Forsythia

through the open window
riding along with the cold winter wind
the scent of Forsythia

And what do you think about this wonderful haiku written by Issa:

wakamizu ya souto tsukiko[mu] ume no hana

into the year's first
water softly...
plum blossoms 

(c) Issa


It's really a joy to compose haiku on this prompt 'Early Blossom'. So enjoy the read, be creative and share your haiku on 'Early Blossom' here with us all. BY THE WAY: I am a bit behind with commenting on your posts. I hope to catch up ... soon.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 1st 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our first episode of Carpe Diem for February, 'Verdant' (provided by Bjorn Brudberg), later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). 



Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Carpe Diem #108, Birdsong



Dear haijin, visitors and travelers,

Here in The Netherlands our very cold and snowy period of Winter is over. After a day of rain all the snow has gone. Temperatures are rising and it feels almost like Spring. Birds are singing their songs and that gives me a lot of joy and the feeling of a warm Spring day.

Today we share haiku on th prompt 'birdsong'. And I have found a nice 'You Tube video' with wonderful 'sounds of Spring'. I love to share that video here for your inspiration.




What a lovely video don't you think? Those sweet songs of birds ... so relaxing ... so close to nature ... resonating with your soul. Awesome.

I found a wonderful haiku on 'bird song' written by Kobayashi Issa, one of the four greatest haiku masters:

sasa naki mo temochi-busata no kakine kana

bird song in bamboo grass--
too shy
for the fence

Sasa naki ("birdsong in bamboo grass") has a special meaning in Japanese: "In winter, the birdsong, especially that of a warbler, is not fully developed due to the low sex-drive. The fragmented birdsong in winter is called sasa-naki and has nothing to do with bamboo grass. Knowing this, Issa plays with the literal meaning of the word, sasa-naki, to juxtapose it to singing on the fence.

Or this one by Buson:

hatautsuya torisae nakanu yamakageni

Plowing the fields--
Even birds have no song

In the shadow of a mountain 




Birds singing what a joy to listen ... Let's go do some haiku composing on 'bird song'.

at dawn
on the thin line between night and day
Nightingale's song

early Spring morning
birds rejoicing Mother Nature -
Ah! that sweet sound


And one with a bit of humor in it:

'shut up!' I scream
after a night without sleep -
birds singing their songs



Well ... I love to write haiku on this prompt 'bird song' and I hope you do too. I am looking forward to your haiku for today. have fun, be creative and inspired. Share your wonderfully composed haiku here on Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'till January 31th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our last episode of Carpe Diem for this month later on today around 10.00 PM (CET) and that will be instead of 'cherry blossom' (as mentioned in our prompt list for January) 'early blossom', because cherry blossoms are more for March in which I will share all classical Japanese kigo (seasonswords) for Spring.




Monday, January 28, 2013

Carpe Diem Special #19, Shiki's Evening Sun



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

The end of January is closing in on us, just a few days left. And than we will start with a new month of Carpe Diem  full of wonderful prompts.
This Carpe Diem Special by Shiki is the last one of this month. I couldn't choose however which haiku I would love to share here ... so a treat ... today's Special has two wonderful haiku written by Shiki.


tsuridoko ni irihi mori kuru shigemi kana

the evening sun
filters through the undergrowth
onto the hanging bed


and:

rai harete ichiju nu yuki semi no koe

the thunderstorm having cleared up
the evening sun shines on a tree

where a cicada is chirping 


I would like to share some background on Shiki. In opposition to the prevailing trend of his time, Shiki depreciated Basho and affirmed the superiority of Buson. What appealed to him in Buson was his objectivity, his attitude as painter=poet looking with clear, fresh eyes upon the various world.

Masaoka Shiki

The personality of Shiki is not perhaps a very attractive one, but when we read his haiku we are struck with the large number of excellent, perfect verses which he wrote. He was a great believer in nature (almost a follower of Shinto-religion) 'still life', the avoidance of all intellectual elements in poetry. His strength and his weakness lay in his lack of religion. From his lack of religion comes his clearness of eye and mind, lack of sentimentality, love of truth, and devotion to literature. But we feel some want of depth: the baby has been thrown out with the bath-water.
Shiki isn't in touch with much that is human though its formbe superstitious and irrational.
Shiki is a humanist, but we feel something a little hard, superficial, unloving in him.
Well ... that was Masaoka Shiki. Next month I will share haiku by Chiyo-ni in the Carpe Diem Specials, but that's for February.

We are still in January and today we have our last Special by Shiki ... so let's do some haiku composing in the same Spirit and tone as Shiki.

cicadas chirping
in the shadow of the pine -
evening breeze




at sunrise
wandering over the hazy heath
the cry of an owl

shadows growing
bushes and trees look taller
in the evening sun


I think they're in the Spirit of Shiki ... what do you think?

Have fun, let the Spirit of Shiki inspire you all to compose haiku and share them here on Carpe Diem, a community of Haijin.

This prompt will stay on 'til January 30th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will publish our next episode later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). That will be 'birdsong'.



 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Carpe Diem #107, Children



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Children are a joy and a pain in the a.., but I can't live without them.. I have four kids and six grandchildren and I love it when they're all at home. Than it's a party and a joy to spend time with them.
I love to have my children and grandchildren around.

Today we share haiku on 'Children'. I am looking forward to all of your wonderful haiku on todays prompt.

children playing
making a snowman in the frontyard -
Ah! What a joy.



Ah! What a joy
to have all my children
around me

around me
on the outstretched beach
children playing


This prompt will stay on 'till January 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new (and last) Carpe Diem Special by our haiku master Shiki later on today around 10:00 PM (CET)

The new Special by Shiki are the following haiku:

tsuridoko ni irihi mori kuru shigemi kana

the evening sun
filters through the undergrowth
onto the hanging bed

and:

rai harete ichiju nu yuki semi no koe

the thunderstorm having cleared up
the evening sun shines on a tree
where a cicada is chirping




Saturday, January 26, 2013

Carpe Diem #106, Wolf Moon (the full moon of January)



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

In January snow gathers deep in the woods and the howling of wolves in hunger can be heard outside the villages echoing in the cold still air. Some tribes called this moon the Snow Moon, but most often it was used for the next month. The Wolf Moon is also called Old Moon. In folklore they say:
" A bright first Moon promises rain and a beautiful harvest; a red-tinted Moon means a dry year."

Credits: Wolf Moon

Today we share haiku on 'Wolf Moon', the full moon of January. That Wolf Moon occurs today and I think it can inspire you all to write wonderful haiku. Let me look somewhat closer to the spiritual meaning of the Wolf.

The Wolf is regarded as one of the most powerful spirit guides of all, and it's presence is a message of guidance. If the Wolf spirit has appeared to you, seek wisdom from those you respect and pause to learn about the subject that faces you. Once the Wolf spirit equips you with knowledge you may take action with confidence.
The Wolf angel symbolizes your inner teacher. Trust in your many senses and intuition and you will connect to your meaning and blaze your own path on the journey of life.
In Asia, the Wolf guards the doors that allow entrance to heavenly, celestial realms.

I found a wonderful haiku on Wolf written by Issa:

a scary sight
worse than a wolf!
wonter rain leaking in

And this one by Ishii Rogetsu (1873-1928) a haiku poet and contemporary of Shiki:

the wolves
have thoroughly destroyed
the shikimi around the grave


Credits: Shikimi

Enough about wolves and their spiritual meaning. Let's go back to our prompt of today 'Wolf Moon'.

silent winter night
the full moon of January -
howling wolves

howling wolves
giving me the shivers -
praying for strength

praying for strength
as I see the bright Wolf Moon -
silent winter night

Have fun, be inspired, be creative and share your haiku with Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'til January 28th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode, 'children', of Carpe Diem somewhere around 10.00 PM (CET) today






Friday, January 25, 2013

Carpe Diem #105, Eyes



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy it was to read all your wonderful haiku inspired on our yesterdays prompt 'silk'. I have read a lot of silk-haiku in which romance and sensuality was clearly there. I do wonder ... is this the 'result' of our wonderful community of haiku poets? A community in which we are in a way connected? Feels like a common consciousness ... and that, my friends, is so cool.

Today we share haiku on 'eyes'. Eyes are the mirror of the soul and we use them to look around us and see all the wonders (and sadness) in our world. Haiku poets were 'lookers', they always looked closer to their surroundings and everything they saw they used in their haiku. Haiku is a short moment in time as short as the sound of a pebble thrown in a pond. Haiku ... our common passion ... I love it and I do believe that you all love writing and sharing haiku.

I wasn't inspired today ... so I have used an old haiku on 'eyes':



great eyes
the eyes of Buddha
full compassion

morning glories bloom
like the eyes of my wife
I fell in love

look into the eyes
of the people around you
share your love 


This prompt will stay on 'til January 27th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will share our new prompt later on today around 10.00 PM (CET) that will be 'Wolf Moon' (the full moon of January).

Have fun, be creative and share your haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.



Thursday, January 24, 2013

Carpe Diem #104, Silk



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another Carpe Diem day is on, today we share haiku on 'silk'. Silk is an expensive fabric, because there is a lot silk needed for creating for example 'silk blankets'. Silk is a 100% natural fabric produced by the silkworm.

Silkworm

Silk was a trading article along the so called 'Silk Route'. The Silk Road gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade, a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network.
The German terms "Seidenstraße" and "Seidenstraßen"- 'the Silk Road(s)' or 'Silk Route(s)' were coined by Ferdinand von Richthofen, who made seven expeditions to China from 1868 to 1872. Some scholars prefer the term "Silk Routes" because the road included an extensive network of routes, though few were more than rough caravan tracks.


The Silk Route, the red one over land and the blue one over sea.

The Silk Road or Silk Route is a modern term referring to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa. Extending 4,000 miles (6,500 km), the Silk Road gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade along it, which began during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). The central Asian sections of the trade routes were expanded around 114 BC by the Han dynasty, largely through the missions and explorations of Zhang Qian, but earlier trade routes across the continents already existed.
Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the civilizations of China, India, Persia, Europe and Arabia. Though silk was certainly the major trade item from China, many other goods were traded, and various technologies, religions and philosophies, as well as the bubonic plague (the "Black Death"), also traveled along the Silk Routes.
The main traders during Antiquity were the Indian and Bactrian traders, then from the 5th to the 8th century the Sogdian traders, then afterward the Arab and Persian traders. 

I found a wonderful haiku written by Issa with silkworms:

uchinaka ni kigen toraruru kaiko kana

the whole house
pays them court -
silkworms

It is said that the families with silkworms in their attics were very careful of the silkworms' moods. They were careful not to make loud noises, display discord, etc. because they needed the silkworms to spin uninterrupted (a cocoon is made of one long strand of silk. If a silkworm stops spinning, it may not have enough silk left to make another cocoon)

And another haiku also by Issa about silkworms:

tamadana ya hata-hata mushi no cha wo tateru

ancestors' altar -
for gnawing silkworms, too
a tea offering

The ancestors' altar (tama-dana) is an altar for the spirits of the dead used during the O-Bon Festival. The O-Bon Festival of the Dead takes place in the Eighth Month in the old lunar calendar. At this time, people light lanterns to guide their ancestors' spirits back home.  


Credits: O-Bon Festival

Isn't it a wonderful haiku that last one? Even the silkworms are honored during the O-Bon Festival.

When I was searching for another haiku on silk I ran into a haiku written by Buson. In that haiku he uses the 'Silk tree'. I didn't know that kind of tree, so I sought for a photo and I found one. As I look at that picture ... I am in awe ... what a wonderful tree.


Credits: Silk-Tree

This was the haiku which I found:

amenohiya madakini kurete nemuno hana

a rainy day
quickly falls the night -
silk tree blossoms

Albizia commonly called "silk plant", "silk tree" or "sirise". Peculiarly, the obsolete form of spelling the generic name - with double 'z' - has stuck, so that another commonly used term is "albizzias" (though the form "albizias" is also found, particularly in species that are not widely known under a common name). The generic name refers to the Italian nobleman Filippo degli Albizzi, who in the mid-18th century introduced the plants to Europe.
They are usually small trees or shrubs with a short lifespan - though the famous Samán del Guère near Maracay in Venezuela is a huge Albizia saman specimen and several hundred years old. The leaves are pinnately or bipinnately compound. Their small flowers are in bundles, with stamens much longer than the petals. The stamens are usually showy, although in some species such as A. canescens the flowers are inconspicuous. 

Credits: Silk Tree Blossom

Awesome, just awesome ... I am on a role with this prompt, but it's a wonderful prompt and I hope to see wonderful haiku on 'silk'.
Have fun, be inspired, be creative and share your haiku with Carpe Diem.

These haiku are my contribution for your inspiration:

arousing my senses
the sweet coolness of silk blankets
shared with my love

silk tree blossoms
in a soothing summer rain
trembling in silence

trembling in silence
silk tree blossoms, so fragile,
in a summer breeze


This prompt will stay on 'till January 26th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will publish our new prompt 'eyes' later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).

By the way do you have prompt suggestions? Please share them in the 'prompt suggestion' section. And I have already published our new prompt list for February.



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Carpe Diem #103, Heath (provided by Bjorn Brudberg)



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another day in our Carpe Diem paradise has started. Today another prompt suggestion provided by Bjorn Brudberg of Bjorn Brudbergs Writings 'Heath'. I think this one will bring wonderfully composed haiku ... what do you think?

Heath? It's low growing bush, always green and flowering with white, purple and blue colors. It's also a surname for boys (man). In my country, The Netherlands, we have wonderful outstretched heath fields as you can see here after.




outstretched field
in wonderful colors
shepherd with his flock


shepherd with his flock
wandering every day over the heath -
like an anchoret


like an anchoret
I am wandering in my mind
over silent heath



Shepherd with his flock on the heath

A wonderful set I think, how immodest, but I like this set very much. I am looking forward to your haiku inspired on heath. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'til January 25th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode of Carpe Diem, 'silk', later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).



 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Carpe Diem Special #18, Shiki's 'The Peacock'



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month's Haiku Master is Shiki (1867-1902) and so I have sought a new Special haiku written by him. He has wonderfully composed haiku and that makes it very difficult to choose a haiku. As I was preparing our episode of yesterday I hadn't found a nice haiku already, but than I ran into a wonderful haiku when I was reading R.H. Blyth's Haiku Vol. 2 Spring.

harukaze ni o wo hirogetaru kujaku kana

the peacock
spreading out his tail
in the Spring breeze



Credits: Peacock, tail open


Blyth's comment at this haiku was:

[...] To see the Spring breeze in the outstretched fan of a peacock's tail is no easier, and no more difficult, than to see a world in a grain of sand or heaven in a wild flower, but the emphasis is to be laid, not on 'breeze', but on 'Spring'. [...] (source: Haiku Vol. 2 Spring - R.H. Blyth)

I think this haiku by Shiki is one of his best. It paints an image in which you can see, feel, hear and touch Spring. The Peacock is just the trigger to place the reader in the right emotion.

king of the farm
spreads out his gorgeous tail -
feathers on a vase 


feathers on a vase
eyes looking deep into mine -
again in love

again in love -
the first day of Spring has come
listen to the breeze



Credits: Peacock, tail closed

Isn't it awesome ... the peacock king of the farm ... it's a wonderful bird.

Have fun, be creative and share your haiku inspired on the one by Shiki with us here on Carpe Diem.

This Special will stay on 'till January 24th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new prompt later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). Our new prompt will be: 'heath' provided by Bjorn Brudberg of Bjorn Brudberg's Writings 



Monday, January 21, 2013

Carpe Diem #102, Sweet Memories



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

During the last months, from the start of Carpe Diem, I have shared some sweet memories with you. For example: sweet memories of my relatives, but also of my work as an oncology nurse. I have a lot of sweet memories and maybe today I will share some of those memories with you.
Today we share haiku on 'Sweet Memories'. I think that every one of us has sweet memories, so I look forward to your haiku for today's prompt.

In December 2011 Wonder Haiku Worlds , a website about haiku, published a first Anthology of haiku shared on that website. It was a surprise to read my own haiku in that worldwide Anthology titled 'Spasms of Light', they used my haiku of course after asking me to. I love to share a few haiku written by me which were selected to become published in this Anthology:

pollard willows
surrounded by the river -
autumn rains


Credits: Pollard Willow

departing
cherry blossom petals fall
without sound

shimmering
between colored leaves
a pebble

Next to these three, seven other haiku were selected for this Anthology. Another sweet memory I have is the holidays with my mom, dad and brother. We had wonderful holidays together. My brother and I used to cycle to our destinations and it was always a joy to be with him. My brother passed away in 1995 at the age of 35. I lost him to lungcancer. I couldn't accept that ... how could it be ... my brother, the only sibbling which I had died at such a young age. He was several years older as me and he always said 'I will always be the oldest of us two'. He was four years older. I had a tough year when I became 36 ... I now was older than my brother ... that was very strange to me.

Of course I have sweet memories of the birth of my children and grandchildren and of the day I married my princess. I have a lot of sweet memories and I hope you have too.

the day I married
sweet memories I cherish
finally got my princess

the scream of a child
in the middle of the night
my son is born

in loving memory
I cherish a picture at my heart -
my older brother


Fresias


grandma has passed away
her sweet perfume of fresias -
Ah! that sweet scent

All sweet memories ... and every new day will bring new sweet memories ... have fun, be inspired and share your 'sweet memories' haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'till January 23th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next Carpe Diem Special by Shiki later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). I have chosen the following haiku by Shiki:

harukaze ni o wo hirogetaru kujaku kana

the peacock
spreading out his tail
in the Spring breeze





Carpe Diem #101, Bamboo



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

In my last post, about the 100th prompt, I told you about the Anthology which I will prepare as a gift to you all. Of course I will ask you all if I may use your haiku in that Anthology. Before that I will make a selection of haiku which I would like to use. As that selection is completed I will post it here on Carpe Diem and than I will ask you all if I may use your haiku. Every haiku will be accompanied with the name of the author of course. OK back to this new episode of Carpe Diem.

It was an awesome day yesterday. We had our 100th prompt anniversary and you all have granted me with wonderful haiku on 'Angels'. I am so proud to see that Carpe Diem is a growing community for haijin and that it gives so much joy and inspiration. Thank you all for your daily effort to write and share your haiku here. Namaste.

Credits: bamboo

Today we share haiku on 'bamboo'. Throughout Japanese culture and history, the bamboo tree has been viewed with reverence and respect for its delicate beauty and as a symbol of endurance. It appears slender and vulnerable, yet it holds strength. Bamboo is also in great demand for use in making many products, including items used in the sacred tea ceremony.
Because of its spiritual significance, the bamboo tree motif is incorporated throughout Japan's landscaping, arts, architecture and temple gardens.
When I started writing haiku, in the late eighties, I didn't know much about it. I just tried and it became a great addiction. I love writing haiku, it gives me a lot of joy and fulfillment. Back in those days I wrote my haiku in my maiden language Dutch.
In the late nineties I created my first Anthology of my haiku, and I became my own publisher. That first Anthology was titled 'Emptiness' or in my language 'Leegte'. 'Emptiness' was more than the title of the Anthology, it also meant to say that also the emptiness around the haiku (in the page lay-out) is part of the haiku, that emptiness is also part of Zen Buddhism, the spiritual source of haiku.
'Emptiness' included haiku which I wrote between 1988 ans 1998. One of the haiku which I included was about 'bamboo':

rustling bamboo
brings my mind into ecstasy
whispers secrets

In Dutch:

ruisende bamboe
brengt mijn geest in vervoering
fluistert geheimen

Credits: Bamboo with Lady Bug

Another 'bamboo'-haiku which I included in 'Emptiness' was the next one:

lightning and thunder -
sound of raindrops
on bamboo leaves

Aren't they beautiful? With this haiku I won my first literature prize ever. Something to be proud on. It was a recognition for the way I was writing haiku. In the years following I became an Internationally known haijin and I took on my 'Nom de Plume' Chèvrefeuille, which means 'Honeysuckle'.

Well ... I hope I have inspired you all to write haiku on 'bamboo' and I hope to read wonderfully composed haiku. Have fun, be inspired and creative. And please ... share your haiku (and comments) with Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'til January 22th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). Our prompt for January 22th will be: 'sweet memories'.


Sunday, January 20, 2013

Carpe Diem #100, Angels

!!!! I am a bit late, but I finally found a piece of time !!!!


!!! OUR 100TH PROMPT !!!

   

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joyous event we have today ... Today our 100th prompt of Carpe Diem ... a real milestone I think. As I started this daily haiku meme last October I only dreamed about that it will become a success and now we have our 100th prompt really I am glad and I will thank you all for your daily effort to write and share a haiku for Carpe Diem. I feel humble and honored that you all will share your haiku here on Carpe Diem.

Today we share haiku on 'Angels', those wonderful creatures, messengers of God, or those who are in our hearts forever. I know that I have a few guardian angels (one of them my dear brother, whom I lost at the age of 35 to lungcancer).


Credits: Angel
 he ... once the oldest
now ... forever young
my guardian angel

my guardian angel
always there to watch my step -
warm memories

warm memories
my oldest brother now an angel -
once a pain in the ...


Credits: Angels (unfortunately a website in Dutch)

her sweet smile
warms my cold heart
she my little angel

she my little angel
the youngest of four
has left the nest

What do I have in store to grant you all with my honest and deep gratitute? Next to this Carpe Diem episode just a:


And ... I am preparing a e-book for you all with an anthology of the haiku shared by you all since the start of Carpe Diem. I hope to share that e-book with you all as we have our 150th prompt ...

Once again I thank you all for participating in Carpe Diem's daily haiku meme and your daily effort to write and share your haiku with us all. Thank you.

This prompt will stay on 'till January 21th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will publish our next episode of Carpe Diem, 'bamboo',  later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). For now ... have fun, be inspired and creative and share your haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.



Saturday, January 19, 2013

Carpe Diem #99, Love Story



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Tomorrow we have a little celebration, because we will reach a milestone ... the 100th episode of Carpe Diem. I hope to make that a nice anniversary with a wonderful post. Our 100th prompt will be 'angels', a nice one I think, but that's for later.

Today we share haiku on Love Story a nice one too I think. Love Story was a movie which came in roulation in 1970. Love Story, a short summary.

Harvard Law student Oliver Barrett IV and music student Jennifer Cavilleri share a chemistry they cannot deny - and a love they cannot ignore. Despite their opposite backgrounds, the young couple put their hearts on the line for each other. When they marry, Oliver's wealthy father threatens to disown him. Jenny tries to reconcile the Barrett men, but to no avail. Oliver and Jenny continue to build their life together. Relying only on each other, they believe love can fix anything. But fate has other plans. Soon, what began as a brutally honest friendship becomes the love story of their lives.  

File:Love story.jpg 

I can't remember if I have seen it (I think not I was 7 yrs old at that time), but I have heard it was a wonderful movie. 

two hearts as one
the love story of their lives -
a pair of swans

a pair of swans
forever and ever together
even in death

Well ... that's my haiku pair for today's prompt. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'till January 20th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our 100th episode of Carpe Diem's daily haiku meme later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). That will be 'angels'.



Friday, January 18, 2013

Carpe Diem's Imagination, a new feature.



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I love to introduce today our new Carpe Diem feature. I have called it Carpe Diem's Imagination. In this new feature I will share on an irregular base a photo, picture or painting meant for your inspiration and imagination.
The goal of this new feature is 'to paint the picture with words', so the picture can be your inspiration source to write a haiku about. 

I will share here today the first episode of Carpe Diem's Imagination.



Be inspired and share your imagination with your haiku here. Give it a try and maybe this will be a nice feature to do now and than.

For this Carpe Diem's Imagination episode you can share your haiku 'till January 25th 11.59 AM (CET).



Carpe Diem #98, circus



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am so sorry that I am (again) late with posting our new episode, but I had a busy evening shift at the hospital so I hadn't time to prepare our new episode. We are on our way to our 100th episode and that will be a milestone for us all. I hadn't thought that this daily haiku meme would be a success.
Today we share on circus a wonderful kind of entertainment for every one I think. For this episode I have chosen for a video of Cirque du Soleil for our inspiration. I love Cirque du Soleil and I think they are the world's best circus.




Really this is a wonderful new trailer of Alegria (January 2011). A nice overview of all kinds of circus acts in this nice show 'Alegria'.


trapeze workers
high above the screaming crowd
flying humans

flying humans
chasing their dreams to fly like birds -
no more limits



Have fun! Be inspired and creative and share your wonderful haiku with us here on Carpe Diem. I am looking forward to your posts.

This prompt will stay on 'till January 19th 11.59 AM (CET) and I hope to publish our new episode of Carpe Diem later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). I am in the nightshift, so I can't guarantee that I will be able to post around that time. So please ... if that's happening ... forgive me. Our new prompt for January 19th will be love story.



Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Carpe Diem Special #17, Shiki's 'cold winter blast'



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I wonder ... how long Carpe Diem will go on? I hope a life long, but that's not only up to me. You my dear friends are the incentives ... as long as you all post your haiku here Carpe Diem will stay on. I am so glad to see that we have gotten new contributors ... awesome!

Yesterday we had prompt #97, so another milestone is coming with a few days ... Carpe Diem prompt #100 ... I hadn't thought that Carpe Diem would come to such a milestone, but it has ... that prompt will be 'Angels', a lovely prompt I think, but that's about a few days. Let's go back to our Special prompt for today another haiku written by Masaoka Shiki, our haiku master for this month.

Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)

A little history about the Special by Shiki I love to share here with you all.

When he was 24, he had a 3 day walk around Musashino (fields around present Warabi-shi and Kumagawa-shi in Saitama Prefecture where there used to be lots of rice paddy fields and forests.) at the end of the year 1891, when he realized that word play would not enough to express the truth and that we should write things as they are. He had an open-eye to haiku for the first time. He composed:

samui fuyubura suto sugegasano watashino kubini katto kadoo 

cold winter blast
a cord of a sedge hat
cut into my neck 

It was his first haiku in the meaning of haiku ... as his role model, Matsuo Basho, did when he traveled through the Deep North of the Southern Island of Japan. 

Credits: Modern Musashino

In nowadays Japan, Musashino is a great city. If Shiki only could see what has happened to this city he went to and wrote the haiku for today.

Well ... the goal of the Carpe Diem Special is to write a new haiku inspired on the one given and if possible in the same tone and Spirit as the haiku master. So let me give it a try ...

covered with snow
after a cold winter blast
rice paddy fields

rice paddy fields
left bare after the harvest
room for the cold wind

a cold winter blast -
with my bare frozen hands 
keeping my hat down


Hm ... not bad I think, how modest, but well ... sometimes you have to give yourself a tap on the shoulder (smiles).

This Special prompt will stay on 'til January 18th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new prompt for Carpe Diem later on today around (hopefully) 10.00 PM (CET). That will be 'circus' .




Carpe Diem #97, crocus



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am a bit late today, but I had other things to do, but I have to publish this new episode of Carpe Diem.
I have read wonderful haiku on yesterday's prompt 'ember' suggested by Bjorn. It was a joy to read them and comment them. Several contributors used sunset (or sun rise) as an image for 'ember'. It was really a surprise to read that in some way you are connected with each other. Looks like a commonly consciousness and that, my dear friends, I like very much in haiku.
Haiku making us one ... isn't it wonderful?

Today we share haiku on 'crocus', one of the first flowers of Spring. Here in The Netherlands, now cold and covered with snow, we have had a period of soft winter, to warm for the time of year. And here and there fragile flowers and trees started to bloom. Mother Nature is in some way confused I think and I hope that those fragile blossoming will survive this cold period with snow and frost.




fragile crocus
blooming in the ice wind
how strong will it be?



snow falls gently
covers fragile crocuses
purple disappears
 


early Spring feeling
a snowman melts in the sun
reveals crocuses



How strong will they be those little crocuses?


snow has gone
colorful crocuses blooming
longing for Spring



Have fun, be inspired and creative and share your haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'til January 17th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode of Carpe Diem (hopefully) later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).
That will be a new Carpe Diem Special, a haiku by Masaoka Shiki, our haiku master for this month. To give you the chance to write your haiku inspired on the one by Shiki I will give his haiku here already:


samui fuyubura suto sugegasano watashino kubini katto kadoo


cold winter blast
a cord of a sedge hat
cut into my neck