Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Sunday Time Challenge #3: Hurricane

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A little bit early, but I love to share our new Sunday Time Challenge already today. As you all know the goal is to create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form on a given theme within 24 hours, because of this early publishing you have now 48 hours to create your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

At the moment I am in the nightshift at the nursing home for the elderly people were I am working. We have, how sad, a new covid-19 outbreak at our health facility and that makes that I am very busy (again). But ... well as you have seen, the theme for today (this weekend) is "hurricane" and that's inspired on a very heavy storm we have here at the moment. We have a heavy storm with Bft 10 to 11 and a lot of damage all over the country, even a few deads. So I thought ... this is a "great" theme for our Sunday Time Challenge.

Uprooted Trees

The goal is to create a haiku (or other Japanese poetry form) themed "hurricane". Here is my haiku ...

the old oak in the backyard
as strong as he always was
now ... uprooted ... tears flow

© Chèvrefeuille, your host

Hurricanes are awfull, but on the other hand ... it shows the power of nature. A power we never can equal.

This Sunday Time Challenge is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until Sunday February 20th at 10:00 PM (CET). You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem haiku Kai: Sunday Time Challenge #2: rainbow

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A few months ago (Oct 2021) I started a new feature here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, the place to be if you like to create haiku and other Japanese poetry forms. That new feature "Carpe Diem's Sunday Time Challenge" is challenge to create a haiku, or other japanese poetry form, inspired on a given theme within 24 hours.

For this Sunday (February 13th) I have chosen the theme "rainbow". I think you all know what the "rainbow" means, that gorgeous rainbow with it's wonderful colors, a sign placed by our Creator at the sky to remember us at the "Flood". 
Nowadays we all know that the "rainbow" is more than only that sign ... it's also used for the LGTBQ community. So you can also create a haiku, or other japanese poetry form, inspired on that meaning of "rainbow".

rainbow

I love that colorful rainbow it makes me happy. And it's happiness we all need in a time of insecurity.

To inspire you a little bit more I have a nice haiku for you, it is a haiku written by Issa, one of the four great haiku masters:

evening's fall colors -
the rainbow in the valley
fades away

© Issa

A wonderful theme to work with. This Sunday Time Challenge is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until Sunday, February 13th at 10:00 PM (CET). have fun! You can add your submissions to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #1358 Clouds

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. I will try to post more regular, but it is not always possible to create a new post. We have still cases of Covid (mostly Omicron) at the health facility were I am working, Today we have two, maybe three, new cases, so we have to test a very big group next day. 

Today I have chosen to give you a haiku written by Jane Reichhold (1937-2016) to inspire you. As you (maybe) know Jane has compiled a nice dictionary of haiku-kigo for our times. The "modern" kigo for today is "Clouds" and it is taken from the Winter kigo, sub-category Celestial.

The goal for today is to create a Tan Renga inspired on the given haiku by Jane. That means, you have to use the haiku by Jane and you have to create the "second" stanza of two lines with approx. 7 syllables.

Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

Jane, once, was a co-owner of our Haiku Kai and she taught us a lot about haiku (and other Japanese poetry forms). She is still missed and her spirit is still here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Here is the haiku to work with:

roaring down the beach
at the height of winter waves
mist clouds

© Jane Reichhold (source: A Dictionary Of Haiku, online version)

A wonderful haiku to work with I think.

You can submit your Tan Renga inspired on this haiku through the linking widget hidden in our logo below. This submission can be done until February 7th 10:00 PM (CET). Enjoy this excercise.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Weekend Meditation #100: waves of love

 Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at our wonderful Haiku Kai. I love to challenge you today, in this (restart) of the Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Weekend Meditation. 

As we look at the time we live in, we can see the lack of love and peace. Covid-19 brings all kinds of emotions, for example anger and sadness. Questions like "Is this the truth?" "What is happening?" Or look at the tension around the Ukraine and Russia ... all signs of ... Yes of what? Is this the End Of Times? Is there a global revolution? 

This time is a time of despair and confusion. No one knows how our future will be. Therefore I love to challenge you to create a Tan Renga (two verses: 1st verse 3 lines 5-7-5; 2nd verse 2 lines 7-7) themed "waves of love".

I have given it a try myself (ofcourse):

teardrops fall
in the middle of the night
no more hope

the song of birds, a new day rises
waves of love warm a world in fear

© Chèvrefeuille, your host

You can submit your Tan Renga by adding it to the linking widget below (hidden in our logo) until next Friday February 4th 2022 10:00 PM (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #1857: Another try to get restarted, a meditation.

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Every time I am trying to restart our wonderful Haiku Kai there is always something else coming inbetween. So I give it a try again.

Today, January 27th 2022, I am reflecting on times coming. As we all know the world is still in a pandemic "war" with Covid-19. At this moment we see an increase of Omicron cases here in the Netherlands, but there are also a few tiny lights at the end of the tunnel. A lot of restrictions are ended, so our community is starting to come alive again, but there is still that threat of the QR-code, that eID. That threat is becoming stronger and stronger here and we, the Dutch people, are uncertain about what our Government will decide. And ofcourse it's one of the biggest discussion going on between groups of people who are positive and negative about this eID.

As we look around in our society a lot of children, teenagers, young adolecents and adults are starting to become depressed and fearfull ... we have an enormous increase of suicides and mentally illness. Covid-19 is not only a physical virus, but also a mental virus. A lot of our new generations have missed a lot during all the lockdowns in the last two years, e.g. closure of primary schools, highschools and universities. They really have missed a lot.

It's so sad to see this happening around me and it has influence on me too. It really makes me sad to see what this pandemic has done and still does ..., but I have a little hope that it will all become better ...

dark clouds gather, 

a downpour breaks loose -

ray of sunshine 

© Chèvrefeuille, your host.

I really hope this "dark time" will become better soon ... we need a new rising of light to look forward ... to have a better future for our children, teenagers, young adolescents and adults. 

I pray every day for relief and new hope and love ... and I hope our Creator will bring us a new future.

These are just my thoughts, my heart is crying, but there is sometimes a smile ... one sunbeam ... is enough.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Namasté,

Chèvrefeuille

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #1856: Restarting?

 Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First of all this: Happy New Year. I hope this new year, the 3rd in a global pandemic, will become a far better year than 2021.

The world is on fire. Everywhere on the Earth we see people rising up against their governments. All are up to make the world a better place than it is right now. Our world is no longer that world we know off, where we live in.

Every day again I wake up asking the same questions: What is going to happen with our wonderful world? Will the pandemic finally come to an end? Or ...

It makes me sad to see how our world is changing into one big battlefield of communities within communities, vaxxed and non-vaxxed stand up to each other. Families are ripped apart, our world is no longer a place of freedom and peace, but public ground of the wealthy few that are striving for The Great Reset. Covid-19 ... that global pandemic ... is orchestrated by just the wealthy few. And it's not from a recent date, no ... far before the WHO called out for the Covid-19 pandemic, this was already on the agenda.

Sounds like a conspiracy theory? Maybe it is, maybe it is not. I don't know. It gives me, as the germans call it "ein unheimliches gefull". 

As I read posts on several socials it gives me the chills. And again that question comes in mind: What is going on in the world.

Yesterday I posted a haiku on our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai twitter-account and I love to reproduce it here again:

A New Day Rises

a world in flames
reaching to regain freedom
a new day rises

© Chèvrefeuille, your host

In every haiku ... there can be a silent hope for a new world, a new day. Let us pray that this world fire will end soon ..

Feel free to submit your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on this blog. You can add your submission to the linking widget below.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, November 2021: Follow The Dream: #1855 "I Have A Dream", (Martin Luther King, 1963)

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. I hope you all are into another month of wonderful challenges to create Japanese Poetry. Ofcourse I hope to publish more regular than I had thought recently. 

This month I have chosen a nice theme to work with "Follow The Dream". As you all maybe know, I have always followed my dreams. Back in time I had a dream to create a fantasy novel, and I did. Once I had a dream to create a daily haiku meme and ... as you are aware of ... that dream came true too.
Do I have more dreams? Yes ofcourse. I hope to be part of a world in which Peace and Love are the most important emotions. Ofcourse I know that thought is an Utopia, but you never know what the future will bring us. Until this dream will become true ... I will dream about it.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

The most famous man who is still known after a long time who had a dream is Martin Luther King Jr. He stated "I Have A Dream" back in 1963 and was assasinated for it in 1968. He is still the man that is an example for everyone who cares ... who also dreams of Peace and Love.

He followed his dream too, but at the highest costs.

The challenge for you my dear Haijin, visitors and travelers of today create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on Martin Luther King's Dream. Maybe you have dreams? Feel free to share them and if you want ... you can create a haiku or tanka inspired on your own dream.

I had and have still dreams, small dreams and large dreams, but it are all dreams. I wish that all our dreams will become true once.

As I am creating this post a quote from "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho comes in mind:

"People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them." (Source: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho)

Dreamtime
inner feelings and emotions
come alive

© Chèvrefeuille

Keep on dreaming ... without dreams we are lost ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 8th at 10:00 PM (CET). You can add your submissions to the linking widget hidden in our logo below. Have fun!