Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #38 A Trip Along Memory Lane #1 Carpe Diem Special

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday June 24th at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I welcome you all at a new episode of our Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation, our weekend challenge or our meditation and contemplation feature for the weekend. This weekend I have a new feature for you to work with, but I have to tell you something about the background of this feature.

As you all know I started with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (then titled only Carpe Diem) back in October 2012. Before I started with CDHK I had some experience with writing haiku (or tanka) every day on two other websites. Those websites however did this for just one month (February and September). I was a very active participant in those daily memes and I missed it almost immediately after writing the last episode of the daily haiku meme in September 2012. So I wanted to fill that hole and decided to create my own daily haiku meme. Well ... right on that moment I created Carpe Diem, now renown as Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, and started to create every day haiku (or tanka).
To make Carpe Diem more attractive I created several special features. The first special feature I created was simply titled Carpe Diem Special and in that feature I introduced several known and unknown haiku poets and gave a haiku written by them. The goal was to create a haiku in the same tone and sense as the given haiku. In other words I tried to inspire my visitors to create haiku in the way of the given classic haiku poet.

This weekend I love to bring a "new" episode of this Carpe Diem Special feature, but of course I had several other special features here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai for example the weekly Tan Renga Challenge or "Little Ones" and more.

Credits Logo

 Okay ... here is the first "stop" on our Trip Along Memory Lane, a trip back in time: This weekend I have (as said above) an episode of that feature titled "Carpe Diem Special" and the goal is to create a new haiku, tanka or other form of Japanese poetry in the same tone and sense as the given haiku. For this Carpe Diem Special I have chosen haiku written by a not so renown haiku poet: Sumitaku Kenshin (1961-1987).

Sumitaku Kenshin

Sumitaku Kenshin wrote mostly one-lined haiku-like poems, so it's a little bit strange to share these with you, because we are all haiku poets that use the three-line lay-out of haiku, but well ... maybe it inspires you to explore this way of writing haiku ... you never know.

Here are the (5) haiku to work with:

While lost in talking, the stars have grown more and more distinct 

How happy! Bathing in the tub full to overflowing 

A dragonfly, with its thin wings sick in summer 

Autumn is lonely, a mosquito bites me 

A lonely night, someone begins to laugh 

All nice one-line haiku to inspire you, but don't forget ... the task is to create in the same sense and tone.

Well ... I wish you all a wonder weekend and I am looking forward to your responses on this new weekend-meditation feature "Along Memory Lane, A Trip Back In Time".

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday June 24th at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until July 1st at noon (CEST). For now ... have fun and have a great weekend!

Carpe Diem #1415 Perfume of Spring (one-bun)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. This month it's all about haibun (prose and poetry). We have already seen a few different kinds of haibun here at CDHK and today I love to challenge you to create a "one-bun" inspired on our prompt "perfume of spring".

More about "one-bun" you can find in our promptlist for April 2018 (above in the menu).

During circumstances I have chosen to only give you the prompt and the task for today.

perfume of spring

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until April 26th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new weekend-meditation later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Special #162, Lolly's fourth haiku, a one line haiku

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you have seen our prompt-list of August than you surely have seen that we have two episodes of Carpe Diem today. First the Tokubetsudesu episode on SIJO and this is the second episode of today another nice haiku by Lolly of Lovely Things, the winner of our second kukai "summertime". This CD Special by Lolly is another nice form of haiku and it's close to the original lay-out of haiku.

As you all maybe know, haiku was mostly written in one line, mostly vertical, and in the Western world this phenomenon occurs too. There are wonderful haiku written in "one line", for example this one written by Jim Kacian, as part of a "one-bun":

dark space the red shift of my mind

© Jim Kacian  

In one of the Carpe Diem lectures I wrote about this one-line haiku form, also known as monoku. You can find that lecture HERE.

Back to Lolly's one line haiku which I have chosen for this CD Special to inspire you all:

wind though the gaps in the cabin walls ... an eagle's cry

© Laura Williams (a.k.a. Lolly)

A nice one-line haiku ... I have tried it myself and this is what I came with:

fly like an eagle as free as a bird in the sky living my dream

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... a very nice CD Special I think. This CD Special is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 21th at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem's "Little Ones" #2

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Several days ago I introduced to you a new feature "Little Ones" and I think it was a success, because Pi-ku and One-line haiku are great to create. So I thought .... maybe we can do another "Little Ones"-episode. So here it is ...
The goal of this new feature is to look behind the haiku and try something new e.g. a Pi-ku, based on the mathematical number 'pi' 3,14, in which every number correspondents wit the syllables of the sentences of the Pi-ku. So the 1st line has three syllables, the 2nd has one and the 3rd has 4th syllables. And if you will bring up more numbers of 'pi' then those numbers also stand for the syllables.

early spring breeze
rain
first narcissus

Another "little one" could be an acrostic haiku. What is an acrostic haiku? The first characters of the three lines are making one word for example SUN

Sweet memories
Under the old appletree
Newly weds

Isn't it a wonderful way to write haiku? You've to look past the lines to make an acrostic haiku, so you've to think it over ... and over ... not an easy form I think. Another acrostic one ... this time with ONE

Only eyes for you
Naked she lays down on the beach
Everlasting love

Not a strong one, but ... it's an example. I am not so familiar with three character words in English.

Another "little one" is the Naisaiku, maybe you know that form, because I have introduced it earlier in the history of Carpe Diem. It's a wonderful 'artistic' (and artificial) form which I enjoy to write.
As you maybe know ... the first and the third line of a haiku can be interchanged. I will give you an example:

lonely flower
my companion
for one night

When we interchange the first and third line the haiku becomes as follows:

for one night
my companion
lonely flower

Now we are gonna make this a Naisaiku:

lonely flower
my companion

for one night
lonely flower

for one night

my companion

lonely flower

This Naisaiku is titled "lonely flower", because of the use of the first line for the 'moment interchanging'. You can make also a Naisaiku with the 2nd and 3rd line as title. Let us give it a try.

lonely flower
my companion

for one night
my companion

for one night

my companion

lonely flower

And with the 3rd line as title it becomes:

lonely flower
my companion

for one night
for one night

for one night

my companion

lonely flower

Well ... do you like this Naisaiku? Just try it with one of your own haiku and make your first Naisaiku ever.
I hope you liked this new episode of "Little Ones" and maybe you are inspired to try a "little one" such as a Pi-ku or Naisaiku, but of course you may use all other forms of "little ones", as e.g. One-Line haiku or teh Acrostic haiku.

This episode of Carpe Diem's "Little Ones" will stay on 'till August 25th 11.59 AM (CET). Have fun, be inspired and share your "little one" with us all here on Carpe Diem.

Carpe Diem's Little Ones #1

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I recieved a question of Maggie Grace and she asked me if it was possible to make a new feature on Carpe Diem about one liners and other shorter verses then haiku. So I love to introduce a new feature ... (drum-roll) I give you ... CARPE DIEM LITTLE ONES ... As the name says it's all about little ones ... shorter forms of haiku. E.g Pi-ku, One-Line haiku (Monoku) or the Modern way of haiku.

What's a Pi-ku?

Pi-ku is a haiku form based on the mathematical number Pi, it's value is 3,14 this value is seen in the three lines: 1st = 3 syllables; 2nd = 1 syllable and 3rd = 4 syllables. I will give an example:

the sun rises
the heat
already tangible

Several days ago I published a Carpe Diem Freestyle episode in which I shared another Pi-ku. Bjorn of Rudberg's Writings stated in a comment on that episode "maybe it's possible to use more digits of the Pi number".
First I thought ... that isn't possible, but I think it's worth a try. So I sought on the Internet for all the digits of Pi and I came with the next (short) value: 3,14159 26535 89793 23846 ... and the digits go on and on, everlasting ...

Let us try to make a Pi-ku with the above digits in red (3,14159) the lines of the Pi-ku and the syllables-count would become the following:

1st line 3 syllables; 2nd line 1 syllable; 3rd line 4 syllables; 4th line 1 syllable; 5th line 5 syllables and the 6th line would be 9 syllables. To me this sounds great and will be for sure a challenge. So let me try to make my Pi-ku longer with those new lines and their syllables-count:

the sun rises
the heat
already tangible
mist
spirals above the stream
another day starts in mysterious ways

I like this way of making the Pi-ku a longer poem, maybe you, my dear friends, can make an even longer Pi-ku ... just have to try it.

Modern haiku?

Modern haiku are not so different from the haiku, but the syllables count isn't important in that modern form and the lay-out of a verse looks sometimes different, more playfull. For example this one by (c) Bill Pauly :

divorce -
        she
            nueters her dog

Or e.g. this one by (c) Emily Romano :

cowboyyellonghornery

Another example of a modern haiku:

gonggoinggone   in

(c) Peter Yovu

Not really my style, but it is very funny to play with haiku and the form. For the One-Line haiku you can read the Carpe Diem Lecture .

Of course there will be other forms of haiku, maybe you know another one, well ... share it with us all here on Carpe Diem. There are so much other ways to write haiku. As you all know I am a big fan of Basho's Kanshicho-style in which the syllables count isn't anymore a rule. That style is more in the line of the Western haiku form.

This new feature is bi-weekly online and this is our first episode. This episode will be online 'til August 8th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode of 'Little Ones' later on that day around 8.00 PM (CET).
Well ... have fun with this new feature and I am looking forward to all of your wonderful posts.

Namaste