Carpe Diem #691, Witch Hazel

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a great weekend I have had ... no worries about CDHK and that felt great. Thank you Jen for stepping in and keep CDHK on road this weekend. You have shared wonderful posts here and I am grateful for that. So thank you Jen ...

Thank You

We are on our way to a new month of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... we have just 8 days to go and than it will be April. I am really looking forward to our next month of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and especially because of our featured haiku poetess that month Kala Ramesh (you can already read a few of her haiku in our last Sparkling Stars episode) and of course our adventure through the Bhagavad Gita that wonderful story about Arjuna speaking with Krishna before going into battle.
Another thing which I need to say here is the following: I will start this week with our first Carpe Diem Kukai, a kind of haiku-contest in which we all will be the judges and give each other's haiku points. Soon I will publish an episode of Carpe Diem Extra in which I will explain the Kukai.

Credits: Witch Hazel

Ok back to our prompt for today. Today our prompt is Witch Hazel ... a unique bush with a lot of uses hidden in it e.g. health issues. I will try to tell you all first a little bit more about Witch Hazel
The Virginian witch hazel or the magic hazel contributes the botanical name Hamamelis virginian. It is either a shrub or a small tree that sufficiently thrives in damp forest areas. The tree is very delicate and flowers that unfold in November and December. The branches of the magic Hazel for a long time are used as a means of divination; bark and leaves are strongly astringent and have a soothing and toning effect.
In general spiritual idea/thought is that witch hazel stands for: a part of yourself, who possesses ancient knowledge of healing; an aspect of your personality that can take either real or in a figurative sense of water.

I found a nice haiku written by Hata 3 about the witch hazel, Hata 3 is a Japanese haiku poet.

~ mansaku ya huruki koromo o nugi suteyo

Japanese witch hazel -
throw off cloak of
an old time

© Hata3

Credits: Woodblock "Witch Hazel" by Kono Bairei 1880

And I found a wonderful poem, Reluctance by Robert Frost (1874–1963) in which the Witch Hazel is part of the scene so to say.

Reluctance(By Robert Frost)

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question ‘Whither?’

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Credits: Witch Hazel

I love this bush ... it's just made for being praised in haiku I think ... but how to catch that idea, that feeling in a haiku? I have tried the "Baransu" technique, but I had some difficulties to find the first line ...

magic is in the air
the sun climbs to his throne
witch hazel buds burst

© Chèvrefeuille

Than I thought of our Haiga Festival and sought for a photo of the Witch Hazel in my personal archive, but couldn't find one ... so I sought the Internet and found a wonderful photo which perfectly fits the haiku.

Credits: Witch Hazel photo (not the haiku)

Well ... I liked creating this episode and I hope it will inspire you all to write/compose an all new haiku and share it with us all here at our Haiku Kai.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until March 26th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our next episode, mud snail, later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.