Carpe Diem #1223 Raspberry

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all are well and in a good mood to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form, because I have another nice and beautiful classical kigo for you. Today our prompt to work with is Raspberry (Kiichigo), and it's from the Shiki Saijiki, a classical anthology of kigo (seasonwords).

Raspberry (Kiichigo)

An example by Jane Reichhold:

low winter sun
raspberry leaves glow
red and green

© Jane Reichhold

I love to share a little bit of spiritual / magical background on this fruit.

Wild raspberry caught the eye of early cave dwellers, as evidenced by the remains of raspberry canes found at a variety of dig sites across Europe, Asia, and Northern America, and raspberries have been a part of our diet ever since.
Raspberry teaches us to be acquiescent. First year canes do not produce fruit but are essential to the fertility of the plant, establishing her root system and filling her canes with the strength and energy she’ll need. After the cane has weathered a year, she’s ready to bloom and fruit. Raspberry reminds us that maturity and proper conditioning are essential to abundant and healthy reproduction. It is best to be patient, Raspberry councils, when beginning any creative endeavor.
Raspberry’s thorny canes remind us, too, to be protective of the fruits of our labors. If we truly want to share our work, we would be wise to be picky about who will carry it into the world.
If Raspberry has come into your life around a specific project, you would be wise to consider carefully with whom you share the fruits of your labors. Is the person in question one who must be won-over, or is he or she already adapted to your way of thinking? Will the person in question carry word of your work to a wider or a new audience?
Raspberry, like her cousin Rose, offers all of us an opportunity to remember to be gentle with one another, to be loving and patient as we work our own magic in the world. It is only with care and a gentle touch that Raspberry yields her fruits. Even the magic of her leaf requires careful, patient treatment; you must wait for the leaf to dry fully before attempting to use it as medicine or food because if you don’t you’re likely to end up with an upset stomach. Raspberry invites us to slow down and savor all that must occur before we bear the fruits of our lives.

Raspberry

And after a while I found a nice one-line haiku created by Erik Amann on raspberries:

wild raspberry taste       on the tip of your tongue  © Erik Amann
 
I couldn't come up with a new haiku immediately so it took me some time to find the right scene and feeling to create the following tanka:

the sweet taste
of her passionate kiss
rests a while
I carress her snow white skin
a gentle touch of raspberry

© Chèvrefeuille

Well .... I hope you did like this episode and that I could inspire you.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until July 24th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, a new "weekend-meditation", later on. For now .... have fun!