Carpe Diem #1804 New Beginnings ... candlelight

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Yes ... another episode of our wonderful Kai, because I was late with our Monday episode, "snowdrops".

Today I love to challenge you two times. I love to challenge you to create a "fusion-ku" with two given haiku and to create a Troiku with your new "fusion-ku". I have chosen two haiku by Jane Reichhold extracted from her online Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku", section New Year.

Here are the two haiku to work with:

a new year
rising from wild seas
a few stars

filling
the glass with candlelight
champagne

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

Champagne and Candlelight (© photo Isabella Cabre)

Two beautiful haiku by the Queen of Haiku (and Tanka), Jane Reichhold. She was once my co-host and taught me a lot about all kinds of Japanese poetry ... I miss her still.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 3rd at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1695 Ice Cream ... Troiku

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in this new CDHK month July 2019, about Summer Love. This time I have chosen for another nice summer theme, Ice Cream. Of course ice cream isn't specific for summer, because you can eat ice cream whole year, but in summer the ice cream gives us the coolness we need on a warm summer day.

I found a nice haiku themed "ice cream" written by S.D. Tiwari:

snow fall in belly
adding lusciousness to feast 
vanilla ice cream

© S.D. Tiwari

With this haiku I challenge you to create a Troiku.

Ice Cream

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 10th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. Have a taste .... of Vanilla Ice Cream.

Carpe Diem #1684 Troiku Month (13) Fireflies

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Troiku Month. I have had (again) a very busy day, so I will only give you the haiku to work with. This time I have chosen a haiku by Jim Kacian, one of the best modern haiku poets in my opinion.

steamy night
fireflies
out in the rain

© Jim Kacian

Fireflies

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 25th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1683 Troiku Month (12) White Valley Clouds

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

My apologies for being somewhat later as usualy, but I am at work and hadn't time to create our new episode earlier. So, because I am at work, I will only give you the haiku to work with and create your Troiku with it.

after the rain
breathing deeply
white valley clouds

© Jane Reichhold (Taken from: "A Dictionary of Haiku")

White Valley Clouds

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

Carpe Diem #1682 Troiku month (11) The Wind Of Fuji

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend and that the weekend inspired you and gave you the time to relax. I had a very busy weekend at work, but I survived it (just joking). A new week is in front of you and as you all know we are creating Troiku this month.

For this first regular episode of this new week I have chosen a haiku by my master, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) and maybe you know it, because I think we have had this haiku earlier here at CDHK.

Here is the haiku to work with:

the wind of Fuji
I've brought on my fan
a gift from Edo

© Basho

Fuji no Yama and Sakura

A very nicely crafted haiku by Basho and I think it gives you the opportunity to create a wonderful Troiku with it.

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

Carpe Diem #1681 Troiku Month (10) moonlit night

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all enjoy this month full of that beautiful new creative way of haiku-ing ... Troiku. To me it's an honor to make this month, because I invented that new creative way of haiku-ing. It makes me proud to see and read all of your wonderful Troiku. Tahnk you all for that.

Today I have chosen a haiku by Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902). Shiki was the poet who gave haiku its name and he brought haiku into the 20th century. He wrote wonderful haiku in which he often used the modern industrial inventions of his lifetime e.g. steam engines. In the haiku I have chosen you can find that too.

This is the haiku to work with:

the wild geese take flight
low along the railroad tracks
in the moonlit night

© Masaoka Shiki

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

Carpe Diem #1676 Troiku Month (5) the aroma of pine

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in our wonderful Troiku month. I am so glad to see participants return to CDHK in this Troiku month ... it makes me proud and humble.

Today I have chosen a haiku by one of our haijin from the start of CDHK. I know that he is a great author and a great haiku poet and with this choice I hope to give him a feeling of joy. I have chosen a haiku by Hamish Managua Gunn, also know as pirate. In our CDHK library you can find an exclusive CDHK E-book created by him. The haiku I will use is taken from that E-Book.

the aroma of pine
and the young morning's fresh rain
reach my words

© Hamish "Managua" Gunn (Taken from "Shinrin Yoku, the art of forest bathing")

A wonderful haiku ... thank you my friend, thank you Hamish that you are a longtime participant here at CDHK.

the aroma of pine

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 13th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new weekend meditation later on.

Carpe Diem #1675 Troiku Month (4) spring snow

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This is our new episode of this Troiku Month. This month we are creating Troiku, that new creative way of haiku-ing, that I invented. Today I have chosen a haiku by a modern haiku poet. I never had heard from him, but he has written wonderful haiku, but also haiku inspired on war. Let me give you first the haiku and than a small explanation.

spring snow
purifies earth and heaven –
our enemies perish

© Mizuhara Shûôshi

In this Great Asia War, the attitudes of the enemy countries, in short, America, Britain, and other countries, are tremendously evil. In order to destroy such evil, our nation has arisen. From the very beginning of the war, our Imperial Army has severely damaged our enemies and incapacitated them. Yet you, the Japanese home-front citizens, should continue to unite your hearts with our Imperial Army to exterminate the evil.

Shuoshi wrote during the Great Asia  War as Japan conquered Singapore.

Spring Snow

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

Carpe Diem #1674 Troiku Month (3) chestnuts by the eaves

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome ... a new episode in our Troiku month and I will keep it short, because of lack of time. Today I will give you only the haiku from which you have to create your Troiku.

For today I have chosen a haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), whom I see as my sensei. It's one of the 50 haiku he used in his wonderful haibun "The Small Road Into The Deep North" (Oku-no-Hosomichi).

Here is the haiku to work with:

people in the world
hardly notice these blossoms
chestnuts by the eaves

© Basho (Tr. Tim Chilcott

Chestnut Tree in full bloom

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 11th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1673 Troiku Month (2) my native town

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the 2nd episode of this new CDHK month in which we experimenting with Troiku, that gorgeous creative way of haiku-ing I invented several years ago. Today I have a nice haiku by a haiku poet we all know, because we have had haiku written by him very often here at CDHK.

Today I have a haiku for you to create your Troiku with written by Santoka Taneda:

my native town
far, far away--
burgeoning trees.

© Santoka Taneda

A nice haiku to work with and as you all know Santoka Taneda was a haiku poet who didn't used the classical rules of haiku, he was a free-styler and that's what we all are as we are composing Troiku.

So have fun ... free-styling ... go for it!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 10th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1672 Troiku Month (1) unexpected guests

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new month of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. This month I will challenge you to create Troiku, maybe a Hineri Troiku, but that's not sure today. As you maybe know ... I invented the Troiku back in 2012. It's a new creative way of haiku-ing, based on creativity and free-styling.
Troiku starts with a (given) haiku and than the goal is to create three new haiku with the separated lines of the (given) haiku. The first line you have to use as the first line of the first new haiku, the second line is the first line of the second new haiku and the third line of the given haiku is the first line of the third new haiku you have to create. Sounds difficult? Maybe ... above in the menu you can find an item about Troiku.

I will give you an example of a Troiku taken from our exclusive CDHK E-book "Flamingo-Clouds":

all day sunrise
what a joy to live in
my orange house

all day sunrise
Mother Nature is confused
the longest day

what a joy to live in
a world full of fantasy
patches of clouds

my orange house
save harbor for my children
‘till when will it last?

© Chèvrefeuille

I think this Troiku explains what the goal is this month. I will give you a haiku to work with and create your Troiku with. This month will be fun I think and I hope that you all will participate in this new challenging month of our wonderful Haiku Kai.

Field Flowers

For this first episode I have a beautiful haiku created by Jane Reichhold:

gathering flowers
unexpected guests
come to dinner

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

A nice haiku to create a Troiku with I think ... looking forward to your responses.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 9th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #59 Troiku ... autumn leaves

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday November 18th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

At the start of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (than only titled Carpe Diem) I invented the Troiku, a new creative way of haiku-ing inspired on the Russian three horsed sleigh ... troika. During the years of CDHK Troiku became more and more a kind of Japanese poetry and I know several of you love to create Troiku. (By the way I hope to publish the submitted Troiku for the 2nd Troiku Kukai this weekend).

This weekend I love to ask you to create a Troiku starting with the following haiku as the "sleigh":

the scent of autumn
that sweet smell of decaying leaves -
after the rain - stronger

© Chèvrefeuille

It's a nice autumn haiku I created back in 2014, so I have taken it from my archives. The goal for this weekend meditation is to create a Troiku with it (more about Troiku above in the menu) and try to stay in tune with the scene ... autumn.

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday November 18th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until November 25th at noon (CET). Enjoy your weekend!