Carpe Diem #727 a butterfly flies

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's really a joy to create an all new episode for our Haiku Kai. All those wonderful haiku by Basho coming along this month ... awesome. We are on the trail with Basho following in his footsteps. Imagine ... you are in Basho's time and you are an apprentice of him. Basho takes you by the hand and leads you through the beautiful nature of ancient Japan. He shows you all the holy places in his wonderful country of the rising sun. And he teaches you his skills in haiku writing. One of his skills, techniques Basho used was the use of paradoxes and in a way this haiku for today is such a haiku in which he uses "paradoxes".

One of the aims of haiku is to confuse the reader just enough to attract interest and engage the mind in thinking. Using a paradox will give the reader something to ponder after the last word has been read. Again, the author cannot espouse nonsense but has to construct a truthful paradox – connected to reality or even a higher reality. It is not easy to come up with new ones or good ones, but when an author discovers one, it is perfect in a haiku because the haiku’s briefness adds to the excitement of figuring out the paradox.

 

a butterfly flies
only in the field
of sunshine

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

Do you see the scene in front of your eyes. A meadow bathing in the sun, full of blooming flowers, the sound of a summer breeze and the dancing butterflies. A serene scene ... almost meditative.

Here is my attempt:

dancing butterflies
the scent of a sunlit meadow
ah! the summer breeze

© Chèvrefeuille (from my archive)

Well ... we are on our way again ... on the trail with Basho ... enjoy your journey.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until; May 13th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, summer robe, later on.