Thursday, October 8, 2015

Carpe Diem Perpetuum Mobile #2 rainbows sparkle (or movement in haiku)


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I had some spare time, so here is (against my earlier thoughts) an episode of one of our special features.

A while ago (somewhere in July 2015) I introduced CD Perpetuum Mobile to you. A special feature about movement in our beloved haiku. Movement? What is movement? How do I catch movement in my haiku? To catch movement in your haiku you can try movement as in "driving a car" or "the swirling of autumn leaves", but movement can also be "the change of seasons" or "the erosion of pebbles through water or sand". All examples of movement. To catch movement in a haiku is not easy, because sometimes it can look artificial and that, my dear Haijin, is something you and I don't want to see/read in our haiku.

Haiku is the poetry of nature and nature is always in motion. Seasons come and go, the moon changes every 28 days and so on, the only thing which is steady and without clear motion is our sun, that big star of our Milky Way around which the planets are rotating.

Nature is always moving and so it's like a perpetuum mobile. As I look at haiku on it selves than haiku is always changing too. As long as haiku exists the rules of writing them have changed like the waves, they have come and go and come again. So our beloved haiku is a perpetuum mobile in it's pure form I think.

seasons come and go
the everlasting motion of nature -
perpetuum mobile


© Chèvrefeuille

Credits: The Oceans are always in motion

A haiku must be fluid, it has to flow, but how can we bring that fluid, that flow into haiku? I think the only way to do that is being one with the scene, the moment, we have to describe in our haiku, but ... I can almost hear you think "haiku is an impression" as I love to call it.
Maybe you can remember our first series of Haiku Writing Techniques or our Impressionism month in which I stated that haiku is an impression, a surprise, but if we look at haiku that way and we have to bring movement into our haiku than we cannot be non-artificial, but still ... This sounds like a koan, that Zen question that enlightens you as you find the unexpected answer, the unexpected deeper meaning and beauty of your haiku.
Most haiku can be seen/read as such a koan, because you describe a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water that touched you and gave you a kind of insight ... or maybe a revelation.

dew drops shimmer
on colorful leaves
rainbows sparkle


© Chèvrefeuille

Do you see/read the movement? The light of the sun, the shimmering dew drops in which rainbows sparkle, and those colorful leaves making the sensational movement even better.

Credits: whirling leaves

Or what do you think of this one, from my archives:

waterfall of colors
leaves whirl through the street -
departing summer


© Chèvrefeuille (2012)

In this haiku the movement, the motion is very clear present "leaves whirl through the street" ... all movement. Haiku becomes very lively through using movement ... so try it sometimes ... or just now.
The goal of this feature is trying to catch the perpetual motion of the seasons, of nature. This feature has no prompt, sometimes a theme, but mostly I will challenge you to catch movement in your haiku, movement of nature in specific.

This CD Perpetuum Mobile episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 22nd at noon (CET). Have fun!

4 comments:

  1. such lovely haikus about movement- and excellent explanation about Perpetuum Mobile! I don't always make it here since I'm limiting my time on the computer- I hope your dad is healing after his heart attack.
    Thank you for coninuing to host this meme.

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    1. My dad has recovered from his heart attack. Thank you for asking Nonnie. I am glad to be your host here at cdhk. I think i couldn't live without it it's wonderful to make cdhk.

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  2. Nice post on movement, Sitting outside watching the seasons change and thinking about the fluidity of life. So glad to hear your father is recovering.

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  3. Thanks so much - You are a fine teacher Kristjaan. I just took a photo that is the haiku!!!

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