Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #26 Revise That Haiku

!!! Open for your submissions next Sunday April 1st 2018 at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to make an all new CDHK Weekend-meditation for you all, our warmhearted family of haiku poets. Last weekend I asked you to use a quote for your inspiration and this weekend I hope to challenge you again with a new "Revise That Haiku" feature. In this feature the goal is to "revise" the haiku of renown haiku poets, both classical or non-classical. This time I have chosen for two haiku by classical haiku poets, that brought haiku into the 20th century, Santoka Taneda and Masaoka Shiki. First I will give you the haiku by Santoka Taneda which you have to revise. I also will give you a small description that belongs to this haiku.

Statue of Santoka Taneda (Hofu Prefecture Japan)

nonchalantly pissing
off the side of the road
soaking the young weeds

© Santoka Taneda (1882-1940)

In Zen Buddhism shying away from bodily functions means shying away from life and death. Shying away from the real truth. The above haiku falls under this category.This poem is important because to some extent the weeds are Santoka himself. One can still live even without pure water. Notice also the fate of these weeds--they are not on the path, the road to salvation, but are destined to be on the path's edge. Could this be how Santoka saw himself? I think so.

Masaoka Shiki

And here is the haiku by Shiki to "revise":

the summer moon
there are a lot of paper lanterns
on the street

© Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)

In this haiku one can easily see the scene of a warm summer evening. After a warm day it's great to sit outside in the coolness of the summer night watching the paper lanterns. It feels serene and romantic. On the veranda of his home Shiki watches the summer moon and compares her with paper lanterns. Maybe he sat there with friends or with his loved ones ... it's a wonderful summer scene.

Nightview of Saruwako-cho (Japanese Woodblock-print)

Two wonderful haiku poets, both brought haiku into the 20th century. Shiki gave haiku its name by the way, before his time haiku was called "haikai or hokku". Both haiku are in my opinion beautiful masterpieces so it may feel like a sin to "revise" them, but don't worry it is not a sin, it's a way of improving your own haiku writing skills.

Enjoy your weekend.

This weekend-meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday April 1st at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until April 8th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode, the first regular of April, later on. For now ... have fun!