Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is the place to be if you like to write and share Japanese poetry forms like haiku and tanka. It’s a warmhearted family of haiku poets created by Chèvrefeuille, a Dutch haiku poet. Japanese poetry is the poetry of nature and it gives an impression of a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water. ++ ALL WORKS PUBLISHED ARE COPYRIGHTED AND THE RIGHTS BELONG TO THE AUTHORS ++ !!! Anonymous comments will be seen as SPAM !!!
Welcome at the first episode of our new Carpe Diem Haiku Kai month "Jane Reichhold's Legacy". This month all the prompts are extracted from Jane's Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". I have tried to choose modern kigo from all of the five seasons (including New Year). This month we will honor her, the Queen of Haiku and Tanka, without her Carpe Diem Haiku Kai would already have be gone, but through her inspiration, her knowledge, her haiku and her being co-host of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... CDHK is still here ... alive and kicking.
Jane Reichhold died not so long ago, she will be missed. But not forgotten. This month is a tribute to her.
In every episode I will share haiku by Jane (and sometimes tanka) to inspire you and I hope she will inspire you ...
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 5th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our nex episode, Pines, later on. For now ... be inspired and share your haiku with us all.
Share your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on the haiku by Jane Reichhold with us all.
It's one of the many beauties written by Jane Reichhold. Jane died, it was by her own choice, in the honorable age of 79. She will be missed by millions of haiku and tanka poets. I sure will miss her, but she will be in my heart forever and I hope to honor her here at CDHK, not only this month, but as long as CDHK will exist.
Jane, a close friend, one of the greatest haiku poets of Modern Times and a co-host at CDHK. This month is for her, a tribute to honor her and remember her. Are you with me?
Yesterday I was reading Jane's Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku" and in the New Year part, under "moods", the kigo: death thoughts got my attention. I wonder ... did Jane foresee her death?
a bird's flight and then I am gone and forgotten death the sea in me goes home meals cooked and the lives I gave the right to take mine when I die it will be my ocean
Jane was suffering from Fibromyalgia she not longer could take the pain and she lost her eye sight for a big part. That depressed her, she couldn't live any longer and decided to end her life by jumping of a cliff into the ocean.
I honestly think Jane foresaw her own death as she was creating her Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". She will not be forgotten, we will cherish her knowledge, her haiku and tanka. She will be forever part of CDHK.
R.I.P Jane ... we will meet again. This special Carpe Diem Haiku Kai month is for you, you will be missed forever ...
August is almost over and we have still a few days to go. Maybe you saw that I didn't publish yesterday ... I hadn't time, because I had a very busy day, but for today I hope to inspire you again with a wonderful quote. The quote for today is from "Alice In Wonderland" by Lewis Caroll. And I think it is a nice quote to get your inspiration from.
Lewis Caroll (1832-1898)
I think you all know him, because his "Alice In Wnderland" is a classic I even think that the most of you have read this beautiful story, or have seen the movie.
Here is the quote for your inspiration:
[...] “I
wonder if the snow loves the
trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers
them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go
to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” [...] Lewis Caroll A nice quote I think.
This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 3rd at noon (CET). By the way I will take a few days off to prepare our new month, to honor Jane Reichhold. So this episode is the last for this month. I hope you will all understand that.
Share your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on this quote by Lewis Caroll with us all here at our Haiku Kai.
Earlier this month I had a beautiful quote by Lord Byron (1788-1824) and today I love to share another beautiful quote by him. As you maybe have noticed all the last few episode used quotes on nature by very different people, so today's quote is also about nature. I think this quote is in short how we, haiku poets, experience nature. Not man is important, but nature around us is, because we are all part of nature and we have to be careful with nature. I think that's what made me a haiku poet, because I am a steward, a keeper of nature ...
And here is the quote by Lord Byron to inspire you:
[...] "There
is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely
shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and
music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." [...] Lord
Byron
Well ... did I say to much? A beautiful quote that fits us, haiku poets, like a glove. Here is my response:
wandering through the woods no paved paths to walk on bare footed I feel
Awesome ... I love to go bare footed, I love to feel the earth beneath my feet it makes me feel alive and one with nature. Completely naked I would run through these pathless woods, completely naked I would run along the shore ... listening to the thundering surf, the cry of seagulls ... one with nature ... feel it ... we are part of nature.
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 1st at noon (CET). Have fun!
Welcome at a new episode of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. This month we are exploring the power of words through quotes by known and unknown people. Today I have a nice quote ... a very nice one I would say, because in this quote hides deep inside a strong spiritual message. See for yourself.
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 31st at noon (CET). Have fun!
Share your inspired haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, the place to be if you like to write and share haiku.
Today's quote I have titled "let the rain kiss you" ... here in The Netherlands (the land of rain and water) we have high temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius, and the weather forecast thinks we are going to have a heat wave. So this quote gave me some coolness.
Today's quote is by the African-American poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967) a wonderful and gifted poet and author.
A new day, a new dawn ... a new inspirational quote to inspire you all. This time I dived into the Spanish history and found a beautiful quote by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, a Spanish dramtist, writer and poet who lived in the Golden Age of Spain. I have to say I didn't know this wonderful poet, but I think he is worth exploring further, maybe for a Carpe Diem Distillation episode.
Pedro Calderon de la Barca was born in 1600 and died in 1681. His quote for your inspiration is very close to us, haiku poets, its a strong one on nature and the mysteries of nature.
[...] "These
flowers, which were splendid and sprightly, waking in the dawn of the
morning, in the evening will be a pitiful frivolity, sleeping in the
cold night's arms." [...] Pedro Calderon de la Barca.
And this is my inspired haiku:
at dawn colorful flowers open their beauty the cold night
By the way ... if my work allows it, I am on the nightshift, I will publish our new prompt-list for September today. As you already know (I think) September will be a tribute to Jane Reichhold (1937-2016).
Welcome in the present ... fitting the title of todays episode. This month we are looking at "the power of words" through quote of known and unknown people. Today I have a quote by Buddha (563 BC-483 BC).
As you all know (maybe) haiku has a spiritual meaning too. That meaning is based in Buddhism and therefore Buddha cannot be missed in this month of quotes.
[...] "Do
not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the
mind on the present moment." [...] Buddha
I think you are all familiar with the story about Buddha. One of His last acts was to find Enlightenment while sitting under a Bodhi Tree. He finally became Enlightened and founded the base for Buddhism.
PS. I am hopelessly behind with commenting so I hope to catch up soon.
This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 26th at noon (CET). Have fun!
Share your inspired haiku or tanka with us all here at our Haiku Kai.
Welcome at this belated episode of our daily haiku meme. It was to busy at work to find a moment to create this blog for you.
This month it's all about the power of words and we are exploring taht power through the quotes of known and unknown people. Today I have a nice quote by our Haiku family member Hamish Managua Gunn, I think you all know him. He has a wonderful Tumblr blog "haiku forest" from which I extracted the quote for today.
Here is the quote by Hamish Managua Gunn for your inspiration:
[...] "Ah…and
then there’s the path, always the path, there, to concentrate on..
" [...] Hamish Managua Gunn This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 25th at noon (CET). Have fun!
Share your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on this beautiful quote with us all here at our Haiku Kqi, a loving family of haiku poets from all over the world.
A new episode of our daily haiku meme, a short one this time, because of lack of time. As you all know we are busy with the exploring of "the power of words" through quotes by known and unknown people.
In this time in which sadness was part of our haiku community, because of the death of Jane Reichhold, the Queen of haiku and tanka, I have a quote by Khalil Gibran in which sadness is mentioned. Not to make you sad again, but just to point you to the loss of Jane.
[...] "Sadness
is but a wall between two gardens." [...] Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran says it in a beautiful way how sad it is to see a wall between two gardens? Not sharing the beauty together. And that's really sad. Here at CDHK we try to share beauty with each other and I know you all will try that also for this prompt.
This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 23rd at noon (CET). Be creative and inspired.
Welcome at a new episode of our daily haiku meme Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. This month its all about "the power of words". I try to inspire you through quotes by known and unknown people. For today I have (how immodest) a quote by myself. Maybe you can remember our discussion on "movement in haiku". I introduced "undou" (movement) to you as a "new" haiku writing technique and from one of those posts I have extracted the following quote:
[...] "Haiku
is the poetry of nature and nature is always in motion. Seasons come
and go, the moon changes every 28 days and so on, the only thing
which is steady and without clear motion is our sun, that big star of
our Milky Way around which the planets are rotating." [...] Chèvrefeuille, your host
Here is an example of what I call an "undou" haiku:
I hope I have inspired you with this quote and I am looking forward to your responses.
This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 22nd at noon (CET). Have fun!
Share your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on this quote with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, the place to be if you like to write and share haiku.
Sorry for being late with publishing, but I was busy with other things. We are busy with a month full of quotes by known and unknown people. The theme is "the power of words" and today I have a quote by a very powerful woman, Mother Teresa (1910-1997):
Mother Teresa
And here is the quote for your inspiration:
[...] "Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." [...] Mother Teresa
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 22nd at noon (CET).
Share your haiku or tanka inspired on this powerful quote with us all here at our Haiku Kai.
Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers, We are halfway this month of beautiful quotes for our inspiration. In all the quotes we can find a little bit of "the power of words". And that "power" we use everyday in our personal lives, but also in our haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry forms. In our haiku we share our thoughts, our memories, our ideas and our love for nature. Today I have a beautiful quote by Rumi for you. Rumi (1207-1273), was a 13th-century Persian poet,
jurist, Islamic
scholar,
theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi's spiritual legacy is appreciated all over the globe for the past seven
centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of
the world's languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has
been described as the "most popular poet" and the
"best selling poet" in the United States.
Rumi
Here is the quote for your inspiration: [...] "Let
the beauty of what you love be what you do." [...] Rumi
As you all know recently Jane Reichhold passed away. She will be missed. I have asked Jen (BlogItorLoseIt) to write a tribute for Jane Reichhold. Jen emailed me yesterday her tribute.
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Jane Reichhold (1937-2016), a tribute
If I could live
my life over to be the child who planted ash trees to grow
into temples
Jane Reichhold, Scarlet
Scissors Fire
When Kristjaan asked if I would write
about my bond with Jane, I immediately said I’d be honored. But to
tell you the truth, I am woefully inadequate for the task.
For almost a year, Jane and I
corresponded by email. It began when I asked her for recommended
reading. If I wanted to explore the best tanka written by women,
where would I start? A Girl with Tangled Hair (Akiko Yosano)
was at the top of her list.
I bought it, devoured it, and thanked
her profusely. But … I also made an uncomfortable confession. In
taking such risks writing tanka (especially erotic pieces) I had
revealed too much of my heart. There was fallout … and sometimes I
didn’t want to write anymore.
And Jane (whom I revered even then as
“The Queen of Haiku and Tanka”) admitted something
astonishing. An especially harsh book review wounded her so deeply
that she stopped writing. Completely. For a very long time. When
she did write again, she wrote on a child’s erasable slate. She
wrote, she erased, she shared with no one.
Jane understood! She had been
there!
art is exact like
a woman in love pencil and error a blue-lined grid of
wants where death is unnamed
Jane, Scarlet Scissors Fire
From that moment on, our correspondence
wasn’t mentor to student but woman to woman.
When my personal life began to
disintegrate, she sent one of her handcrafted therapy dolls (named
“Peanut”) in the hope that it would pull me out of a deepening
depression. When an injury kept me housebound and wracked in pain, I
was frustrated and furious. She asked me to be gentle with myself …
but also said, “You are living my nightmare.” She hinted at
health issues and failing eyesight but would not discuss them. For a
year she was patient beyond measure … encouraging me to write
again … she said people needed to hear my voice.
When a second creative source
maneuvered me into silence, she sent her phone number and asked me to
call. But ... how … could I call? I was so nervous!
One day as I was ready to walk out the
door a voice said, “Call. NOW.”
So I did.
We talked for about two hours. We
laughed … a lot. We shared life stories and found more in common
than I ever could have imagined. But she said, “the vortex” was
opening under her feet. And she would not elaborate. Instead, she
worried about my personal safety (a story for another day). She
would not rest until I promised to leave town for a few days … so …
I did.
there is a
stone tongue crushed in a room of tombstone teeth grapes
mature helplessly gathered after a funeral
Jane, Scarlet Scissors Fire
At the end of our call she offered an
intense ten minutes of advice … delivered in a soft but urgent
voice that could have quieted a stadium.
Find what makes you happy. Don’t
let anyone silence you. Speak your truth. Write. Write!
So … sitting in the dark on a beach
in Delaware, I pieced together fragments of haiku.
Once home, I went online to email Jane.
But of course I was sidetracked by Facebook … and there was a post
by Jane! Or … rather … a post from Jane’s friend.
Jane was gone.
Jane, I wish you had saved all those
erased haiku. I wish you could see that I’m writing again. I wish
that someone could have eased your pain, saved your eyesight, ensured
your mobility. All I can offer is a humble “thank you”. You
changed everything.
milk sky the
unbearable heaviness of things unspoken before the
sandpiper calls to the sea
Paloma
**
In addition to Jane’s tanka (above)
here are a few haiku from her Dictionary of Haiku, under
Summer Moods. Please use them for your inspiration, and don’t be
afraid to speak your truth.
he's angry
again alone on the porch with a red star
departing summer and when it's
gone the river's low
touching
myself your name on my lips
eating melon bites given on the
point of his knife
nights the grove
of little trees swollen with lovers
packing between unworn shirts sea
sounds
company's
coming over-friendly flies buzzing at the door
in rain in sun how do you run from
your hours window box zinnia?
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Thank you Jen for this beautiful tribute for Jane Reichhold, what a wonderful bond you had with her. She surely will be missed by the global haiku world.
You can respond on this tribute through the comment field or link your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form to the linking widget. You can submit your responses until next Sunday August 21st at noon (CET).
Share your inspired art-work in response on this beautiful tribute with us all here at our Haiku Kai were Jane Reichhold's spirit still lingers.
Welcome at a new day at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. This month its all about "the power of words" and all our prompts are related to a quote by a known or unknown person. Today I have chosen to share a quote by Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963).
Sivananda
Saraswati (or Swami
Sivanada) was a Hindu spiritual
teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta.
Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai,
in the Tirunelveli district
of Tamil
Nadu. He studied
medicine and served in British
Malaya as a
physician for several years before taking up monasticism. He lived
most of his life near Muni
Ki Reti, Rishikesh. He was the founder of the Divine Life Society (DLS) in 1936.
Swami Sivananda Saraswati
And here is the quote for your inspiration:
[...] "Put
your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the
secret of success." [...] Swami Sivananda
This quote fits us as haiku poets. As we look at the smallest things around us, the smallest creatures in nature than that can and will bring you a successful haiku.
An example by Issa, one of the four greatest haiku poets ever:
giddy
grasshopper take care...do not leap and crush these pearls of
dewdrop
Maybe you can remember that back in our history we had Kala Ramesh as featured haiku poetess for our CD-Specials and today I have a nice quote by her to inspire you. This will be a short episode, but I think it can inspire you.
Here is the quote by Kala Ramesh:
[...] "Last
evening I was looking out from my balcony and saw a sparrow perch on
a branch. All of a sudden, with a quick jerk, she ruffles her
feathers and spreads out her wings – her bodyline on an upward
curve, about to take off." [...] Kala Ramesh
Kala Ramesh
This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 18th at noon (CET). Have fun!
Share your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on this quote by Kala Ramesh with us all here at our Haiku Kai.
This is the (belated) last episode of our tribute Theme Week for Jane Reichhold. Jane was a very close friend and participated in Carpe Diem on the background. Without her knowledge I couldn't have created Carpe Diem. Without her gratefulness I couldn't have made several of our theme months on, for example, Matsuo Basho. I even think that Carpe Diem had died without her being co-host of it.
On July 28th 2016 Jane decided that she no longer wanted to live ... With her passing away the haiku world has lost one of the greatest haiku poets of modern times. Jane ... Queen of Haiku (and tnaka) will be missed. She will be forever in my heart and through Carpe Diem Haiku Kai I hope to honor her as long as Carpe Diem will exist.
Recently I spook with Werner, her husband, through the mail and he was glad that Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, our loving family of haiku poets, remembered him and that gave him strength. Remember Werner and his family in your prayers. He and Jane were together for over 45 years and they found each other in haiku. Jane Reichhold ... Queen of Haiku
In Loving Memory
Maybe you know that a lot of haiku poets wrote their Jisei and Werner shared Jane's last haiku with me through the mail. This was Jane's last haiku, her Jisei:
Share your memories and your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form about Jane Reichhold with us all. Please remember Jane in your heart and let her spirit inspire you.
morning dew evaporates at sunrise a skylark's song
It's my pleasure to introduce an all new feature at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, "Carpe Diem To Be Continued". It's maybe a "rare" feature, but I think it is also very challenging.
As you maybe know I am not only a haiku poet, but also an author (I have written two novels) and that inspired me to create this new feature.
The goal is, as the name already says, to continue something that was started. In this feature it's all about haibun (prose and poetry) and about continuing the story. How does this work?
I start "To Be Continued" with a haibun and you, my dear Haijin, visitors and travelers, have to continue the haibun, not only the prose, but also the poetry. Your continuation is inspired on the starting haibun. You can write a continuation on the starting haibun or, and that sounds more challenging, you write a continuation on the continuation before you. An example: If Eses has written a continuation on the starting haibun than you have to continue were Ese stopped or you can decide to create an continuation on the starting haibun. It sounds difficult, but I think it's not that difficult.
I hope this new feature will bring you a challenge, but most of all fun. For starters I have a haibun which I wrote back in April 2013, maybe you can remember it.
Isla Benidorm (Spain)
One Hot Summer
Somewhere
in the hot Summer of 1998 it was I thought, but it easily could
be in another hot Summer. I was on a holiday with my family in
Benidorm (Spain).
My wife and I were walking along the beach late
on an evening. It was still warm and we were very much in love. We
walked hand in hand, sometimes stood still to kiss each other.
Somewhere along the beach there was a group of palm trees with a nice
little bench. We sat down and watch to the sea and Isla de Benidorm.
It was told that once a giant had broke a piece of
the mountains in the back land of Benidorm and had thrown it into the
sea. I wonder ...
In the back lands of Benidorm I saw a mountain
with a gap that looks very similar with the Isla de Benidorm. In front of my eyes I saw the giant brake of the big piece of the
mountain and threw it into the sea. What a sight. That big piece of
rock made the sea rise and a Tsunami rolled towards the seashore
breaking on the beach. The foam swirled every where.
Puig Compana (Do you see the gap?)
A
little smile on my face made my wife laugh. 'What are you thinking
of?' she asked. I shook my head. 'Nothing my dear'. I answered.
'Nothing'. Hand in hand we walked back to our apartment and drank a
little wine ... afterwards ... well ... it's up to you to fill in
this gap. (smiles)
thrown
into the sea a pebble bounces a few times I feel a giant
In this month of "the power of words" I have tried to inspire you with beautiful quotes and today I will do that again. For today I have chosen a quote (how immodest) by myself, your host.
This quote I have taken from the Souchou Spring edition. By the way I haven't had time to edit the Summer edition of Souchou, my apologies for that.
Here is the quote for your inspiration:
[...] "I
know I am a dreamer … but I belief strongly, that love will conquer
all evil … and as Spring is here again than I only can say: Yes
love has conquered again!!" [...] Chèvrefeuille
This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 17th at noon (CET).
PS.: The last episode of the Theme Week in tribute to Jane Reichhold I will publish tomorrow.
Share your haiku inspired on this quote with us all here at our Haiku Kai.
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