Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #57 Renga With ... six haiku poets

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday November 4th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend-meditation our feature that gives you the opportunity to meditate and contemplate before you submit your work. Let me give you a small update first. As you all know the hospital where I am working has ran into bankruptcy so I am unemployed at the moment. Of course my colleagues and I are hoping that the hospital will be re-opened and it looks positive at the moment. There are a few investors who would like to take over, but right at the moment it's not clear which one will get "the bone". So I have a few appointments for a new job. One of those interviews I have had yesterday (Thursday November 1st) and I am glad that interview was succesful. I have already my contract for that new job, but I have still a few interviews to do, so I haven't yet signed it. Why didn't I sign? Well ... it's just for a few months. Of course that's better than nothing, but I am looking for a longtime commitment.

For this weekend meditation I have cjosen to challenge you to create a Renga With ... not with one other haiku poet, but with six different haiku poets. So this weekend you can make a renga with the following haiku poets: Basho, Issa, Chiyo-Ni, Buson, Shiki and Jane Reichhold. Of course you may choose your own line-up. Your task is to add the two-lined stanza between the haiku through association on the scene(s) in the haiku.

Here are the six haiku to work with:

all my years
floating in the river
a childish heart

© Jane Reichhold (taken from our tribute e-book "All My Years")

a flash of lightning:
the screech of a night-heron
flying in the darkness

© Basho

the coolness
of the sound of water at night,
falling back into the well

© Issa

autumn's bright moon,
however far I walked, still afar off
in an unknown sky

© Chiyo-Ni

autumn's bright moon

pressing sushi;
after a while,
a feeling of loneliness

© Buson

at the gate of a deserted house,
a cicada is crying in the rays
of the evening sun

© Shiki

What an awesome challenge this is ... creating a renga with all those wonderful and renown haiku poets. I hope you will enjoy this wonderful task. By the way ... try to create a "closed chain" with an ageku that connects with the hokku.

This weekend-meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday November 4th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until November 11th at noon (CET). Enjoy your weekend.