Saturday, June 20, 2015

Carpe Diem #759, long day/summer solstice



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

nagaki hi mo saezuri taranu hibari kana

even a long day
is not enough for the singing
of a skylark

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

The above verse says it all ... Today our prompt is long day/summer solstice and it points to the beginning of summer (on the Northern hemisphere). Today it's June 21st and that's the real start of summer. At last ... summer has come ... after a long period of cold and semi-cold weather .... summer is here.

I am busy with preparing our list of haiku which are submitted for the second CDHK kukai "summertime" and I hope to mail it to the participants this week, but during lack of time and being in the nightshift, I can not guarantee that. I have read wonderful haiku submitted for this kukai and I am looking forward to your judging.


Ok ... back to our prompt for today long day/summer solstice ... Jane shares the following haiku for this modern summer kigo (seasonword):

longer days
I love to go to sleep
with sky in my eyes

long day
the reading lamp stays
unplugged

© Jane Reichhold

And these she shares on summer solstice:

a bluish shadow
our shortest night
in Norway

solstice splits
between the peach halves
a red stone sun

summer solstice
the gypsy wagon bright
with music

© Jane Reichhold

All wonderful haiku as I may say so ... it will not be an easy task to write/compose an all new haiku inspired on these beauties. So, forgive me, I have ran through my archives ... and I found this one:


Summer Solstice
the longest day of the year
welcomed with music


© Chèvrefeuille (You can find the whole story at Chèvrefeuille's Haiku on WP)


Observatory Robert Morris, near my home-town
celebrating
and welcoming Ra -
summer solstice

© Chèvrefeuille

*) Ra is the Egyptian Sun God

I hope you did like this short episode and that it inspires you to write/compose all new haiku and share them here with us at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until June 23rd at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, star gazing, later on. For now have fun!

3 comments:

  1. We're up. It's 4:30 over here in the UK and the sun is supposed to come over the horizon in 10 minutes' time. Don't expect it will as it is very cloudy. We''ll go back to bed soon.

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  2. Chèvrefeuille - haven't read the post above yet, but I think it would be much less work for you if you simply put the numbered list of kukai haiku on your blog here one day and we could use that to vote with.

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