Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #17 wind in the pines (Candy)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This beautiful Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 is almost over. We have only a few days left and than we will take the plane to Tibet, to explore this wonderful country in the Himalayans. But that's for later.

Today I have a new challenge for you a "hokku" by one of our Haiku Family members and one of the winners of our kukai. Today's Tan Renga Challenge starts with a "hokku" by Candy.

wind in the pines
swirls upward to heaven
whispered prayers

© Candy

Pines

A beauty I would say and I think I can remember that Candy wrote this one in response on a beautiful haiku by Jane Reichhold:

reaching for the sun
the great pine's shadow
shapes the tree

© Jane Reichhold

Well ... maybe I am mistaken on this but I don't know it for sure.

Here is my attempt to complete this Tan Renga:

wind in the pines

swirls upward to heaven

whispered prayers                                           © Candy

birds are singing their song
praising Mother Nature                                   © Chèvrefeuille

Not as strong as I had hoped, but in a way I like the twist in my stanza, because "the wind" has been the messenger of the spirits and gods ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until June 2nd at noon (CET). Have fun!

PS. I have published our new prompt-list for June 2017. We are going to explore Tibet. You can find the prompt-list in the menu above.

Carpe Diem Special #224 Candy's 4th Yellow School bus

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First my apologies for being late with this CD Special, it is the 4th CD Special in which I share poems from Candy, our winner of the "Tribute to Jane" kukai. During work and the holidays it wasn't possible to bring this CD Special to you, but today on the penultimate day of 2016 I had time to create this episode. So here it goes. I have gathered a few wonderful haiku and a tanka which Candy loves to see in her e-book "Lonely footprints" which I hope to complete next week.

blue dragonflies dart
along the edge of a pond
playing summer games

yellow school bus
rumbling down the street
small faces framed
behind the square windows
longing for summer days

Yellow Schoolbus

I love these Yellow school buses. Here in The Netherlands we don't have that, but I have seen them often on TV-shows or in Movies. Must be awesome to ride to school with such a wonderful Yellow school bus. 

wind in the pines
swirls upward to heaven
whispered prayers

viewing festival
standing amid pink blossoms
woman’s beauty fades

© Candy

Candy is a real gifted haiku poet and I hope Candy will be part of CDHK for a long time. Thank you Candy for sharing such beautiful poems with us here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Here is my response on this wonderful series of poems by Candy. I have chosen to share a haibun which I have written a long time ago as my Sakura started to bloom again.

SPRINGTIME

When the dark period of the year goes by and spring is coming I become happy. Spring is my season. After hibernation nature begins blooming and comes to live. As I see the Snowdrops come in bloom I feel how Mother Earth is reborn again.
The Cherry- and Plum-trees begin blossoming and especially when the Cherry tree in my backyard is starting to bloom I am so happy.
I have to give a party when the first Cherry blossom blooms. I call all my friends and family to tell them that my Cherry tree is in bloom again and that's worth a celebration. I love that moment. I feel a little child again and come to live after my hibernation.
Springtime ... nature comes to live once again. It's worthy to celebrate when the Cherry trees are blooming, especially mine of course :-).

My Sakura (© photo Chèvrefeuille - 2014)

I have written a lot of haiku about Cherry trees, but I have never written , as I call it, "my masterpiece" on Cherry trees. Maybe this is the one. In this haiku I hope that spring is present.

on winter's edge
the first Cherry blossom blooms
rain falls softly

© Chèvrefeuille

This last CD-Special of 2016 and the last by Candy is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 4th at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem Special #223 Candy's 3rd "silvery moonbeams"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It is my pleasure to bring to you our third CD-Special for this month. As you all know in this feature I bring haiku, tanka and sometimes other kinds of Japanese poetry by a featured haiku poet or haiku poetess.
This month I love to share haiku and tanka created by our winner of the "tribute to Jane" kukai, Candy of Rhymes With Bug. Candy is very gifted haiku poet and has created wonderful haiku and tanka. In our 2nd CD-Special I shared tanka by Candy and this time I have chosen a nice series of haiku to inspire you.

silvery moonbeams
reflected in still water
diamonds on the pond

a child humbly born
amid wars and poverty
our hope for peace

"Old Pond" (image found on Pinterest)

blossoms long spent

only brown pods remain
a feast for finches

silver jewels
on flamboyant green spikes
frosted grass

© Candy

All nicely crafted haiku I would say. The work of Candy is really awesome to read and re-read.

the old pond
surrounded with yellow roses -
rippling water

© Chèvrefeuille (from my archives)

This CD-Special is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until December 22nd at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Special #222 Candy's 2nd "morning walk" (tanka)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to bring our second CD-Special for you today. As you all know the winner of our kukai wins the opportunity to create an e-book and wins the privilege to be featured haiku poet at CDHK. This month Candy of rhymeswithbug.com is our featured haiku poetess.
I introduced her to you in our first CD Special this month and now I hope to inspire you with another nice set of poetry by her.

For this CD-Special I have three tanka to inspire you. As far as I could find and know, these are the only tanka Candy has written. So I hope to inspire you with these tanka.

frozen water on
the pond children skate around
in circles, cold hands
warmed by a glowing bonfire
wind and earth rejoice

Credits: Morning Walk

morning walk

summer sun beats down
on her head
breeze plays with golden tresses
covered by her silken scarf

two ruby red lips
parted in a flirty smile
tease the tired farmer
shapely form comes after dark
courtesan of midnight dreams

© Candy

Three wonderful tanka by a very gifted poet, these tanka are really well written and maybe ... these will inspire you to create your own tanka or haiku.

the day has gone
the night belongs to them -
red light district

© Chèvrefeuille

I couldn't come up with a new haiku or tanka, so I ran through my archives, search courtesan, and ran into this one.

This CD-Special is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until December 15th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Special #221 Candy's Showcase first " promise in red clouds "

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at our first Carpe Diem Special of December 2016. As you all know Candy won our "tribute to Jane" kukai with the following haiku:

morning walk
trailing behind me
only footprints

© Candy

With this haiku she won not only the opportunity to create an exclusive CDHK e- book, but also being our featured haiku poetess of this month. Candy's weblog: Rhymeswithbug you can find by clicking on the link.

This is what Candy says about herself: "I am a reader, writer, and snapper of photos in my garden. The tiny creatures I find there are my muses".

I have already started to create her E-book which I have given the "work-title": footprints and I love to share here a few of Candy's haiku to inspire you.

pray for rain upon
this thirsty patch of terra
promise in red clouds

red clouds

Another nice one, this time a very delicate and fragile scene:

butterfly follows
the scent and hue of flowers
feast on zinnia

And a last one to inspire you:

flock of black birds
origami in the sky
fall migration

© Candy

Candy is a very gifted haiku poet and has written wonderful haiku and tanka, but maybe tanka is for a next CD-Special.

I hope I have inspired you with the beautiful poetry of Candy.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 9th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our next episode,