Carpe Diem #1847 Renga With Jane Reichhold +++ Dancing Lights (Renga: Juunichoo)

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Well ... I am getting the vibe again and I hope you all will have fun and joy again here at our wonderfull Haiku Kai. Earlier today I published our first episode for July 2021 and I hope to be here every day again, except de weekends.

Today I was reading in one of Jane Reichhold's Poetry Collections and immediately thought "It's Time Again For A Renga With Jane". So I took a dive into her wonderful dictionary of haiku and extracted a nice series of haiku from "Summer", "Celestial". I gathered six (6) beautiful haiku about clouds to challenge you all with.

Renga, or chained poem, is a nice way of collaborate poetry. The goal is to add your six(6) two lined strofes to the given haiku written by Jane through association.

I will give you six(6) haiku, you can decide which haiku you use to start with, the hokku. Remember that the goal of a renga is to create a "closed circle" of haiku, so the ageku (closing verse) has to be related to the first haiku you used.

Here are the six (6) haiku by Jane Reichhold:

beach tent billows
in the summer blue
white clouds

desert sounds
out of the sun's way
clouds moving

morning downpour
raised to new heights
afternoon clouds

dancing lights
clouds sprinkle the sun
across water

clouds
colored by open wall
a driftwood lair

curving with the land
a rainbow of clouds
moves out to sea

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

By adding your two-lined strofes you create a so called "Juunichoo", a 12 verse renga.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 9th at 10:00 pm (CEST). You can add your Juunichoo, your Renga with Jane, to the linking widget hidden in our logo below. Enjoy!

Carpe Diem #1735 Renga With Jane Reichhold -- Chinese Lantern

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. This month we are creating a "bouquet of wild flowers" and today I have chosen for a Renga With ... episode. Today I will give you six haiku crafted by Jane Reichhold. Your task is to create a Renga with those haiku by adding the two-lined stanza to it. You can choose your own "line-up", but the first haiku I will give has to be the opening verse or "hokku".

Here are the six haiku by Jane Reichhold to work with:

Chinese lantern
the brightness within
a bee

barbed wire
the best berry bushes
double-thorned

in foggy moonlight
blackberries float in cream
her nails are blue

Blackberries

flowers by the door
nameless except for the color
of these blue days

late summer grasses
above their roots the seeds
nearly touching

sheaves of grass
water that does not break
flows in ripples

© Jane Reichhold (taken from: A Dictionary of Haiku)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 4th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1704 Beachcomber ... Renga With Jane Reichhold

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. This month is themed "Summer Love" and has all to do with the love for summer in all the different ways. Today I have such a lovely summer activity for you to work with. I remember that we have had this prompt somewere back in our rich history, but that doesn't really matter.

Today I have chosen a prompt taken from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary Of Haiku", a modern saijiki, from the section Summer, subsection livelihood: Beachcomber. A beachcomber is a person who participates in the activity of beachcombing, an activity that consists of an individual "combing" (or searching) the beach and the intertidal zone, looking for things of value, interest or utility.

The task for you today is to create a Renga With Jane Reichhold (1937-2016) using the following haiku:

missing the malls
on the ocean beach
she gathers shells

high tide
the beach leaves a mark
in her book

afternoon wind
all the beachcomber's words
blown out to sea

Beachcombing (Message In A Bottle)

cold beach walk
on sun-warmed car seats
two sweatshirts

a special beach
I put a pebble in my mouth
before leaving

smelling the light
on her tanned shoulder
home from the beach

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from "A Dictionary Of  Haiku")

The task? You may choose your own line-up, add your two-lined stanza, and make the renga complete. Enjoy this Renga With Jane Reichhold ... in honor of her.

PS.: I have also published a new episode on Tanka Splendor, see link at the right side of our Kai.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 23rd at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1697 Renga With Jane Reichhold ... placing the flute

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. This month it's all about "Summer Love" in the broadest sense of the word. So I hope this month will trigger you to create wonderful "summer love" poems.

The weekend is almost over and I hope you all have had a great weekend full of inspiration. I had a busy weekend, because I had to work at the nursing home for the elderly people were I am working since the start of this year after the bankrupcy of the hospital were I was working. It's still a strange feeling that a hospital can go in bankrupcy, but well I have still the work that I love ... being an oncology-nurse. At this new workplace I have the responsibility for the care for our oncology patients and I am responsible for the implementation of the oncology care. A wonderful challenge I can say, but it takes a lot of my time, but ... it gives me a lot satisfaction.

For this new regular episode I have chosen to challenge you to create a "Renga with Jane Reichhold". I have extracted six haiku from her "A Dictionary of Haiku", Summer section, to work with. I hope you all will enjoy this challenge and (of course) I hope your Renga With Jane will be a tribute for her to honor her. She is still missed dearly ...

Here are the six haiku I have chosen:

wind perfumed
from a woman's shoulder
desert night

dancing on the beach
I jab a stick into the sky
to break up the blue

days so complete
words become the calls of birds
the high tide wind

placing the flute

placing the flute
against her lips something
slips into place

I'm not old
all night my eyes have held
the ancient stars

moon white water
lovers in the secret cove
Saturday night

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

Six beautiful haiku to work with. You can chose your own "line-up", add your two lined stanza (approx. 7-7 syllables) and try to make the "chain complete". The first (hokku) and the last (ageku) haiku have to have a slight connection.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until July 14th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode, full of summer love, later on. For now ... have fun!!

Carpe Diem #1650 Breakfast (modern kigo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai were we are exploring the beauty of classical and non-classical kigo for spring. Today I haven't enough time to create a large episode, but I think I can make you all happy with a new "Renga With ... Jane Reichhold" episode.

Today I have chosen a modern kigo taken from her modern saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku" ... We have to do it every morning, but as I speak for myself ... I do not take breakfast every day. So today I challenge you to create a Renga With Jane Reichhold by adding your two-lined stanza between the haiku of Jane. In her modern saijiki she gives us six examples of haiku with the modern kigo "breakfast" and those six haiku I will give you to create your Renga With Jane.

Here are the six "breakfast"-haiku by Jane. You may choose your own "line-up":

flood waters crest
someone by the river puts water
in a coffee pot

breakfast coffee
the excitement of an ocean
in my cup

threads of smoke
breakfast fires of neighbors
tied together

pale spring sunshine
spread over breakfast toast
quince jelly

beating egg yolks
two yellow butterflies
twist in the fog

early morning rain
the dry sound inside the cabin
of oatmeal cooking

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku")

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 24th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #78 Renga With ... Jane Reichhold ... springtime

!! This episode is open for your submissions next Sunday March 31th at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend meditation here at our wonderful Haiku Kai. That special feature I started a while ago to have some time off for being your host. It has given me the balance and peace I need to stay in tune with nature, and in tune with my muses.

This weekend here in The Netherlands the so called "summertime" is on again. That means that we, the Dutch, will set our clocks one hour forward. That means also that you will see the CEST abbreviation instead of the CET abbreviation. Several of you will live also in that same timezone, but the most of you will stay in their own timezone.

As you all know Jane was a very dear friend of CDHK and of me. She has meant a lot for our Haiku Kai and she is still missed. You also will know that she was one of the most renown modern haiku poets. Her own website AHApoetry.com is still online and will provide you with a lot of knowledge about our beloved haiku.

This weekend I love to invite you to create a renga with Jane Reichhold. Take this opportunity to create a renga together with her, to honor her and give tribute to her wonderful spirit.

Here are the six haiku by Jane to work with and create your renga with Jane Reichhold:

beach diamonds
a new day crystallized
in sunny surf foam

forgotten brook
running the centuries down
locked in rock

white pussy willows
above a muddy swollen river
fat raindrops

White Pussy Willow

rippling grass
wind moves up the hill
light waves

flute melodies
across green ocean waves
spring meadows

floating clouds
down from the mountain
a puddle of rain

© Jane Reichhold

A wonderful series of haiku chosen from the section spring from her modern saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". It fits our theme I think ... so enjoy this challenge. You may as always choose your own "line-up" and by adding your two-line stanza you create a renga together with our beloved and so missed Jane Reichhold.

PS. Last weekend I used the linking widget of "blenza", but there are troubles with using it. So this weekend I am going back to our old widget. Sorry for those who prefer the Mister Linky.

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday March 31st at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until April 7th at noon (CEST). Enjoy your weekend together with Jane Reichhold.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #74 Renga With ... Jane Reichhold

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday March 3rd at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the first weekend meditation of March and also of Spring that's why I have created a new logo for our weekend meditation. For this first weekend meditation I have chosen an episode of our special feature "Renga With ..." And this weekend I love to honor Jane Reichhold (again) by challenging you to create a Renga with Jane Reichhold.

As you all know creating a Renga With ... gives you six (6) haiku and you have to add the six (6) two lined stanza between them. Ofcourse you can choose your own "line-up" and you have to try to create a closed chain of twelve (12) stanza. Try to let your "closing verse" (ageku) and the "starting verse" (hokku) be in a kind of symbiosis.

For this Renga With Jane Reichhold I have chosen six (6) haiku from her online Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". Here are the haiku to work with:

beach diamonds
a new day crystallized
in sunny surf foam

white pussy willows
above a muddy swollen river
fat raindrops

light carried in my arms
apple blossoms from a neighbor
on my doorstep

Tai Chi On The Beach

Tai Chi on the beach
one gull watches
with outstretched wing

between the fields
a break in the evening mist
three lilac bushes

shades of art deco
lying on the beach
abalone shells

© Jane Reichhold (extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku")

I think this series of haiku is really gorgeous and I think it will give you all satisfaction to work with them and honoring Jane. Take your chance to create a renga together with the best haiku poetess of modern times. Have fun!

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday March 3rd at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until March 10th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new (regular) episode around that same time too. For now ... have an awesome weekend.

Carpe Diem #1594 Cliffs ... Renga With Jane Reichhold

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy this month was and still is. We have explored classical and modern kigo for winter. We have had nice kigo and I challenged you with beautiful haiku by Jane Reichhold, all extracted from her modern saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". We even created a winter renga with Jane Reichhold.

Today I have another nice modern kigo extracted from her modern saijiki. That kigo has a little sad taste, because I have chosen for the modern kigo "cliffs" and we all know that Jane choose to end her own life by jumping of a cliff back in 2016.

Cliffs in Winter (Lake Baikal)

What a wonderful sight those cliffs in winter ... Today I challenge you to create a renga with Jane Reichhold's haiku. As you all know you may choose your own "line-up" and try to create a "closed chain" through an association on the "hokku" (starting verse) in the "ageku" (closing verse). You have to add the two lined stanza (approximately 14 syllables) to complete this Renga With Jane Reichhold.

Here are the six haiku to work with. All haiku are themed through "cliffs", our modern kigo for today.

frozen cliffs
swept by lighthouse beams
soft in the dark

giant waves
sea cliff rocks
summer sea secure

high tossed mists
warmed in morning sun
above winter cliffs

Snow on the sandstone cliffs along the shoreline of Prince Edward Island National Park, Canada

after the storm
sandstone cliffs relax pebbles
into the beach

high tide
brings storm waves
to cliff dwellers

sea spray
the cliff laced
by crystal

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku")

A nice series of haiku I would say and a wonderful opportunity to create a Renga With Jane Reichhold, one of the most wonderful modern haiku poets and a close friend she was. Her spirit is still moving around here at CDHK.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 4th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. 

Carpe Diem #1584 Winter Renga With Jane Reichhold -- spots of blue

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. Sorry for being this late, but I hadn't time to publish it on time. This month we are exploring modern and classical seasonwords (kigo) for winter and today I have six modern kigo for you to work with. All kigo are taken from Jane Reichhold's Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku" and are all from the section Winter, subsection Celestial.

Today I love to challenge you to create a renga with Jane Reichhold. I will give you six haiku written by her to work with (including the six modern kigo) and create a renga with. As you all know in this feature you can choose your own "line-up" of the given haiku and you have to add the two lined stanza between them. Try to make the "chain" complete by using the "hokku" and the "ageku" rule, that means the last stanza, the ageku, has to be connected to the first stanza, the hokku, through association.

Here are the six modern kigo I have chosen: air, dawn, moon, stars, first light and sunset. And here are the haiku to work with:

frost sharp air
cut into pieces by sunshine
sparkling on snow 

winter dawn
sounds of blowing snow
sleeping birds 

spots of blue
varying the light to fit
tracks in the snow 

Tracks In The Snow

cold winds
rounding snow-capped peaks
a full moon 

before one star
beams from the lighthouse
search the sky 

ocean sunset
staying by the window
'till the color sinks 

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from "A Dictinary of Haiku")

Six wonderful haiku by Jane to work with. Take the opportunity to create a renga together with Jane Reichhold in honor of her. She is still missed.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 21st at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!