Carpe Diem #1578 Amaryllis (modern kigo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend full of inspiration and joy. I had a nice relaxed weekend and I enjoyed it a lot. Tomorrow (January 7th) I will start in a new position as a senior oncology nurse, a kind of manager, at a nursing home in my hometown. As I told you earlier I started in the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam, but travelling to the VU Medical Center took to much of my energy, so my health became worse. So I had to decide to resign from the job in VU Medical Center. I am glad that I have found another wonderful job ... I am excited to start there.

This month we will explore the seasonwords (kigo) for winter. A kigo is a word that indicates the season in which the haiku scene was seen. This month I will try to inspire you through modern and classical kigo for winter. Today I have chosen a nice modern kigo (taken from Jane Reichhold's "A  Dictionary of Haiku") ... Amaryllis.

Amaryllis

The Amaryllis is typical for this time of the year, Christmas and New Year. We see them often here in The Netherlands, but I think you all know this beautiful flower.

Here are a few haiku themed "Amaryllis" created by Jane Reichhold:

swollen
the amaryllis bud
already red

low-slanted sun
in the red amaryllis
turning on lights

© Jane Reichhold (taken from the online version of "A Dictionary of Haiku")

I found a nice "story" about the Amaryllis. I love to share that "story" here too, just for fun or to help your inspiration.

[...] "Legend has it that the amaryllis - the stunning red flower we've come to associate with the holidays - began as a shy, timid nymph. Amaryllis fell deeply in love with Alteo, a shepherd with Hercules' strength and Apollo's beauty, but her affections were unrequited. Hoping that she could win him over by bestowing upon him the thing he desired most - a flower so unique it had never existed in the world before - Amaryllis sought advice from the oracle of Delphi.

Following his instructions, Amaryllis dressed in maiden's white and appeared at Alteo's door for 30 nights, each time piercing her heart with a golden arrow. When at last Alteo opened his door, there before him was a striking crimson flower, sprung from the blood of Amaryllis's heart. With this romantic - albeit tragic - tale as its beginning, it's not surprising that today the amaryllis has come to symbolize pride, determination and radiant beauty." [...] (Source: Teleflora)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 13th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!