Carpe Diem #1050 blossoms

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our warmhearted family-community Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. This month it's all in honor of Jane Reichhold, who passed away at the end of July. All our prompts are modern kigo extracted from Jane Reichhold's saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku" and all the used prompts will be shared here with examples of haiku (or tanka) by Jane.

Let me give you a brief biography of Jane Reichhold (1937-2016), Queen of Haiku and Tanka, a close friend and my mentor and co-host of CDHK:

Jane Reichhold was a haiku personality. There's a lot to know about her, as well as to learn from her. On her page (AHA!POETRY!) we learn that she was born in Lima, Ohio, in 1937, and studied Art and Journalism at Bluffton College, Ohio, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, Fresno State University, Fresno, CA, and San Francisco State University, San Francisco. She lives now in Gualala, CA, USA.

Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

She was also a mother of three children and taught art classes for children (1962-1966). She owned a pottery workshop studio in Dinuba, CA (1967-1971) and then she moved to Hamburg, West Germany, in 1971. There, she made sculpture from ropes which were exhibited throughout Europe. She was the first American woman artist accepted into the Deutsche Kunstlerbund [German Artists' Organization] and wrote free-lance magazine articles and poetry since 1963 which, were published in USA, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Romania and Croatia.
In 2013 Jane became co-host of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and featured her own special feature "Ask Jane ...", in which she gave answer on questions by Carpe Diem Haiku Kai family members.
Recently, on July 28th, Jane decided to end her own life. She could not longer cope with the pain of Fibromyalgia and the partially loss of her sight.
Jane became 79 years and she will be missed forever, but never forgotten.

Lake Biwa - Cherry Blossoms

Okay ... back to our prompt for today: Today our prompt is blossoms and Jane wrote wonderful haiku with this modern kigo for spring. Here are a few examples to inspire you:

knotted fragrance
on spring bare branches
blossoms

cloud blossoms
brush strokes between clusters
story-telling branch

silence
in the blind wind's dance
blossoms

moonlight
among blossoming trees
a white parasol

silence
the blossoms
dance

© Jane Reichhold

All wonderful haiku in the excellent, but fragile, way of Jane's haiku writing. It's really wonderful to read her haiku (and tanka) and re-read them. She was really the greatest modern haiku poetess.

Cherry Blossoms

Here is my response on blossoms inspired on the haiku by Jane Reichhold to honor her, my dear friend and mentor:

cherry blossoms bloom
such a fragile beauty -
the Spring breeze

spring breeze
caresses the fragile blossoms
of young cherry trees

standing naked
in awe of the first cherry blossom
dancing in the garden 

© Chèvrefeuille

I wonder ... will be spring as beautiful as ever without Jane? She was (and still is) my inspiration and she will continue that ... Her spirit will dwell here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, because without Jane CDHK wouldn't be alive ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 15th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, calm, later on. For now ... be inspired and share your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form in tribute to Jane Reichhold with us all here at our Haiku Kai.