Carpe Diem Ghost Writer #37, Georgia on Frost and Carpe Diem Special #121, Richard Wright's 2nd haiku "in the falling snow"

!! I publish this post earlier than I normally do, because I am in the nightshift !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today it's a double episode, because I have a Ghost Writer post and a Carpe Diem Special for you all. First I will bring to you the Ghost Writer post which is provided by Georgia of Bastet's Waka Library
She has written a nice GW-post (#37) about Robert Frost. After that GW-post I will continue this post with the CD-Special (#121) by Richard Wright. Have fun ... (PS. Both items have their own linking widget).

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Winter is upon us and there’s no doubt about it.

The other evening I was sitting by the fireplace reading Robert Frost, one of my favorite poets.  Unlike most of Frost’s poems his poem Dust of Snow has an essential quality about it that reminds me of a haiku.

We tend to think of Frost as always having written longish poems, but in fact he was very proud of his small compact poems. His Pulitzer Prize winning book of poetry, published in 1923 entitled “New Hampshire” contains many of his short poems for example, “Fire and Ice” or “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and “Dust of Snow” which is his shortest poem … One sentence in eight lines (two stanza), all but two are monosyllabic and yes … that means 17 syllables per stanza, a coincidence or had Frost come into contact with haiku at that early date?

Contemplating this poem, we see that a lot of its effect is derived from paradoxes … dust being related usually to something dirty, the fact that he was in a bad mood before the crow dumped snow down on him, which usually would put someone in a bad mood.  I’m thinking that like a haiku, reading this poem can give us many layers of meanings outside of the 32 words.

I would invite you to read Robert Frost’s Poem and write about a similar incident using either a haiku or a tanka.

Credits: Winter Crow © Melissa Parks

Dust of Snow

Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

For more  of Robert Frost’s Short Poems – Terebess Asia On-line (TAO) at http://terebess.hu/english/haiku/frost.html

And if you wish you can download from Project Gutenberg several books of poetry by Robert Frost by following this link:  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Robert+Frost

Have a great week!

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It's a wonderful post, a similar with our Carpe Diem Distillation feature ... so let this poem by Robert Frost inspire you to write an all new haiku (or tanka). It may be a distillation from the poem or inspired on the poem.

sudden gust of wind
snow swirls down on me
makes me shiver

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... a nice one ... brings nice memories into my mind ... my happy childhood. I see that same happiness in the eyes of my children and grandchildren ... awesome.

This GW-post is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until December 12th at noon (CET). I will (try to) post our next episode, Northern lights, later on.

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Carpe Diem Special #37, the second haiku by Richard Wright "in the falling snow"

Than I have here our Carpe Diem Special, a haiku by our featured haiku-poet, Richard Wright (1908-1960) ... he was a forefighter of the Black Americans and in his last years he discovered haiku. He wrote a lot of haiku (more than 4000) and compiled an anthology of his own work with 880 haiku. He is really a great haiku-poet and I am loving his work very much. So let us go on to another wonderful haiku written by him. I have tried to use a haiku which is close to the GW-post earlier in this post. I think I have found a nice one to share here for your inspiration.

In the falling snow
A laughing boy holds out his palms
Until they are white.

© Richard Wright

The goal of the Carpe Diem Special is to write a haiku inspired on the given haiku by the featured haiku poet and try to touch the same sense, tone and spirit.

Here is my attempt:

through the early night
the laugh of children playing -
virgin snow

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... now it's up to you .... this Carpe Diem Special is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will stay open until December 12th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, Northern Lights, later on. For now ... have fun!