Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #106 Turn Back Time (2) Revise That Haiku by Taigi

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday October 13th at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend meditation here at our wonderful Haiku Kai were we are celebrating our 7th birthday. Last weekend I introduced a special feature for this festive month "Turn Back Time". In this special feature I will take you back in time ... or in other words "I will turn back time" into our amazing CDHK history.

This week I love to "turn back time" to another wonderful special feature we have had here at our wonderful Haiku Kai. In October 2013 I started our special feature "Revise That Haiku" with a haiku by Taigi (1709-1771). Taigi was a contemporary and friend of Buson. I will first give the haiku (including the Japanese Romaji) and then I will give the description of the moment which led to the haiku.

umi ikete tsuki to mo wabin tomoshikage

arranging the plum-flowers,
I would enjoy them in the light of the lamp,
as if in the moonlight

© Taigi (1709-1771)

The brevity of haiku is not something differnt from, but a part of the poetical life; it is not only a form of expression but a mode of living more immediately, more closely to life as may be illustrated in the above haiku by Taigi.

Flourishing Plum Blossoms in the Moonlight

The original of the above haiku is even more difficult, literally: "arranging the plum, as if the moon, I would savour, lamp-light" (Wabiru translated 'enjoy', 'means' to live a life of poetry in poverty). The poet has arranged the flowers in a vase, and wishes to see them in the light of the moon, but there being no moon, he lights the lamp instead, and adds its light to the poetry and the beauty of the flowers.

The whole of the poet's life is shown in this action and the essence of the verse in wabin. This poverty, this asceticism of life and form in haiku, this absence of luxury and decoration finds its philosophical and transcendental expression in Emanuel Swedenborg's (a Swedish philosopher who lived from 1688 until 1772) "Heaven and Hell" (paragraph 178); after he has described the garments of the angels, some of which glow with flame, some of which shine with light, he adds:

"But the angels of the inmost heaven are not clothed".

Well ... with the desciption of the moment I think you can revise that haiku ... so ... "break a leg", have fun, be inspired and share your revised Taigi-haiku with us at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Ofcourse I than gave it a try, so here is the "revised" haiku by Taigi created by me, your host:

shadow on the wall

flourishing plum blossom

in the moon light

© Chèvrefeuille (October 2013)

Enjoy your weekend. This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday October 13th at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until October 20th at noon (CEST). Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1617 The start of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, the first day of spring

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the first episode of a new and exciting month at our wonderful Haiku Kai, the place to be if you like to write and share Japanese poetry. Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (CDHK) is a loving family of haiku poets and I am grateful for your love and participation. I never could have imagined that CDHK is alive and kicking after almost seven years.
It makes me humble and proud, but without you, my dear Haijin, I couldn't have done it. Thank You!

Every day again I love to create CDHK and ... ofcourse it isn't always easy to come up with a new theme every month, but this month ... well we will see what the Kumano Kodo will bring us. Ofcourse I will try to tell you about the background of the Kumano Kodo, but the most important thing this month is to enjoy the journey.

For this first episode I have chosen to tell you some background on the first day of spring, because in meteorology spring starts on the first day of March as is today.
Spring the season of new life, the start of the light part of the year according to Paganism and other nature religions. Autumn and winter are in those religions the dark part of the year and spring and summer the light part of the year.
It is a common use in Paganism to not marry in the dark part of the year, but in the light part of the year. We can see that in several rituals in spring and festivities. For example: Dancing around the May pole is such a ritual.

According to the classical Shiki Saijiki, an anthology of classical kigo, the first day of spring is a classical kigo for spring. So today as we start our Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, we will start with "the first day of spring". I think we have had this classical kigo earlier here at CDHK, but I also think you all are wonderful haiku poets and I know that you can come up with a new haiku (or tanka) about the first day of spring.

I found a nice haiku by Den Sutejo (1633-1698) a contemporary of Basho, about the first day of spring. I don't know if they knew each other, but in a way I saw a touch of Basho in the following haiku by Sutejo:

natsu matade baika no yuki ya shiroi harugi butsu

not waiting on summer
the plum blossoms in snow -
white spring kimono

© Den Sutejo

Den Sutejo (1633-1698)

Let me tell you a little bit more about this female haiku poet, she isn't as renown as Chiyo-Ni, but she has written wonderful haiku (as you can read above). Born in the province of Tanba as daughter of the samurai Den Rishige. She married and had five sons and one daughter. When she was 42, her husband died. Very soon after, she became a nun.
She became a student of Bankei Eitaku, a Zen master (1622 - 1693). She built her temple Futai An beside his temple Ryuumon, where she lived with about 30 other ladies. Her grave is at the temple Ryuumon-Ji.

I am looking forward to this month and I hope you all will enjoy our pilgrimage along the Kumano Kodo (the "ancient road"). Let's go on a new pilgrimage ... and start with our new month here at CDHK. Our goal for this first episode of March is to create a haiku (or tanka) following the classical rules (see our CD Lecture One, above in the menu) of haiku with the kigo "first day of spring".

fragile plum blossoms open

I have tried to follow the classical rules and I even tried to translate it into romaji:

koware yasui umeno hanawo yoake no hikarino nakade hikaku haruno saisho no hi

the first day of springtime
fragile plum blossoms open
in the light of daybreak

© Chèvrefeuille

With this "first day of spring" haiku our journey, our pilgrimage, along the Kumano Kodo has started. I hope you all will like this pilgrimage, one of the most holiest of Shinto.

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