Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (19) broken sunflower

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in our TRC month Chained Together III. Today I have chosen a not so well known haiku written by myself to work with. During lack of time, I am very busy at work, I will not create a long episode. So here is the haiku to work with:

broken sunflower
torn apart by a rainstorm --
puddles on the path

© Chèvrefeuille, your host

Sunflower Reflections

Well ... it's up to you now ... create a wonderful Tan Renga with the above haiku by adding your 2nd stanza to it. Enjoy ... the task.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 2nd at noon (CEST). Have fun ...!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (10) locusts fly low

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai were we are exploring Japanese poetry and this month ... Tan Renga. By the way my apologies for being late with publishing.

Today I have chosen a haiku written by Masaoka Shiki, the haiku poet who gave haiku its name and who brought haiku into the modern time. Shiki died in 1902 on the age of 34. I think he was and old soul in a young body. His haiku are really gorgeous and during his life you almost can read the changes in society in his haiku. Maybe you can remember his haiku about the steam engine, but that's not the haiku to work with.

Locusts flying low

Here is the haiku to create the Tan Renga with:

locusts fly low
over rice paddies
in the dim sunlight

© Masaoka Shiki

A real challenge I think. I have given it a thought, but couldn't come up with a 2nd stanza, maybe you can do it ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 20th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new weekend meditation later on. For now ... be inspired and above all .... heve fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together (III) (9) between dusty cars

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai were we are having our 3rd edition of our special feature TRC, or Tan Renga Challenge. This month I challenge you to create Tan Renga, a kind of chained verse written by two haiku poets, from a given haiku (or "hokku").

Today I have a nice haiku for you to work with. It's a haiku written by Kim M. Russell in response on one of our Quest For A New Masterpiece as featured in a Weekend Meditation in August 2018. I commented on this haiku:

[...] "Nice juxtaposition in this one; and also a kind fragment and phrase. Very well done … Your haiku paints a wonderful scene with the beauty of the classics like Onitsura and Basho. This is a haiku that will survive time … a masterpiece."[...]

And I think you all will think (or say) the same. Here is the haiku by Kim to work with:

between dusty cars
an orange butterfly flits
the traffic rumbles

Kim M. Russell, 26th August 2018

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until September 19th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (8) pear tree in bloom

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our TRC month September 2018. A few days ago I challenged you to create the first stanza (hokku) of the Tan Renga inspired on the 2nd stanza given by me. I have another Hineri TRC for you today. This time I have chosen a quote by Masaoka Shiki and reworked it to a 2nd stanza. The goal is to create the first stanza of this Tan Renga.

Here is the re-worked quote by Shiki. I have turned it into the 2nd stanza to work with:

pear tree in full bloom on a battlefield
collapsed house becomes beautiful again

© Shiki (re-worked by Chèvrefeuille)

Pear Tree In Bloom (woodblock print by Kono Bairei)

A nice 2nd stanza to work with I would say. Now it is up to you to create the first stanza (hokku) of this Tan Renga.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 18th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (7) grasses wilt

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First ... my apologies for being this late with publishing our new TRC. I had a very busy evening shift in the hospital.

This month we have our 3rd edition of the TRC-month in which I challenge you to complete a Tan Renga with a given haiku by a classical or non-classical haiku poet. Today I have a nice haiku for you to work with by Seishi.

This haiku I found (again) on the same website as the haiku of yesterday by Patrick Blanche. This haiku is also in a translation by Burch.

Here is the haiku to work with:

grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt.

©️ Yamaguchi Seishi, (Tr. Michael R. Burch)

Steamengine on the railroad at Takanawa (woodblockprint by Ikkei)

As I read this haiku by Seishi I immediately thought of that nice haiku by Shiki:

smoke whirls
after the passage of a train.
young foliage.

© Shiki

Two beautiful haiku I would say, but the TRC for today is to create a Tan Renga with the haiku by Seishi, but if you also would like to create a Tan Renga with the haiku by Shiki than feel free to do as you like.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 17th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (6) An Apple, Alone

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy this month already is. I have read wonderful continuations and it seems that you all like this TRC-month. I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. I had for sure a good weekend, but a busy one, because I had to work (all evening shifts), but ... well I am an oncology nurse so to me every shift has its challenges, like we have our TRC's this month (smiles).

Today I have a wonderful haiku for you written by the French haiku-poet Patrick Blanche. I think it's a nice haiku to create a Tan Renga with.

Red Apples In A Basket

Here is the haiku by Patrick Blanche, first I will give you the French version:

Une pomme, seul
dans le verger abandonné rougissent pour l'hiver

Ⓒ Patrick Blanche

But of course I cannot ask you to create a Tan Renga from a French haiku, so here is the translation by Michael R. Burch:

One apple, alone

in the abandoned orchard reddens for winter
Ⓒ Patrick Blanche (Tr. Michael R. Burch)

A wonderful haiku to work with I would say. So have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 16th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (4) in the wolf's eyes

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our TRC "Chained Together III". This month is TRC month and Tagore month, but the Tagore episodes are for the weekend meditations. Today I have a wonderful haiku by one our longtime family-members, Hamish Managua Gunn. The haiku I have chosen was a winning haiku of one of our former kukai.
Next to being a gifted haiku poet, Hamish is also a gifted author. His exclusive CDHK E-book Shinrin Yoku, you can find in our CDHK Library. It's an anthology of so called kikobun. For sure worth to read and to download.

In The Wolf's Eyes

Here is the haiku to work with to create a Tan Renga:

Midwinternight
A  dark sky’s lights dance
In the wolf’s eyes

© Hamish Managua Gunn

What a beautiful haiku to work with. I have given it a try ... here is my continuation of this haiku into a Tan Renga:

Midwinternight
A dark sky's lights dance
In the wolf's eyes                        © Hamish Managua Gunn

fresh fallen snow sparkles
while we warm our hands           © Chèvrefeuille

Sounds romantic doesn't it?

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 12th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... be inspired!

Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (3) a soothing breeze

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

During lack of time, I am on the nightshift, I have only the haiku to work with to make a Tan Renga with. This episode I have chosen a haiku I wrote myself back in 2015. That haiku was a response on an episode of CDHK about Basho's "Narrow Road Into The Deep North", his world famous haibun.

I challenge you to create the 2nd stanza of two lines with approximately 14 syllables to make the Tan Renga complete.

a soothing breeze
cicadas sing their song
sound of water

© Chèvrefeuille (2015)

I am looking forward to all of your continuations and completions. Have fun!

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until September 11th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (2) winds howl in rage

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in our Carpe Diem TRC month. This month it's all Tan Renga challenges in our regular episodes. Tan Renga is a nice way of writing together, like in a renga. Tan Renga looks similar with Tanka, but is not written by one poet, but by two poets. (More on Tan Renga above in the menu).

Today's episode is a haiku by Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), your task is to complete the Tan Renga by adding your two-lined stanza (approximately 7-7 syllables).

Cover of our exclusive CDHK E-book about haiku by Soseki

In May 2016 we had a nice Theme Week about Natsume Soseki's haiku. (See for our exclusive CDHK E-book our Library)

Here is the haiku to work with and create a Tan Renga with:

over the wintry forest
winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow

©️ Natsume Soseki

And here is my continuation of this nice haiku by Soseki:

body poppers dance on the square
while the first flakes of snow fall

©️ Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... not as strong as I had hoped, but in a way I love this continuation. It makes the scene in the haiku much stronger, but also very dfferent, because "body popping" is a modern dance style. I don't think the had "body popping" in Soseki's time. (see for some "popping" the video hereafter)

Well ... it's up to you now.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until September 10th at noon (CEST). I will (try to) publish our new TRC-episode later on.