Carpe Diem #981 Spain

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new "stage" in our Europe Ginko. We are visiting a big part of the European Union and today we will visit Spain.

Spain ... for a lot of you Spain will be a well known country. So it is to me. I remember that I first visited Spain in 1998. It also was the first time I took a plane ... it was awesome. Together with my family we were on a holiday in Benidorm in the south-east of Spain. It was hot, really hot, but I liked it and my kids liked it too. The years after we visited Benidorm often, but we also visited the Canary Islands. The first time there was around Christmas 2001. As you all know I am from The Netherlands and around Christmas it's mostly cold ... so I was "flabbergasted" that on the Canary Islands I could sun bath in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. That ... to me was a very strange experience. No a warm or hot Christmas isn't my idea of Christmas. So that was once in a lifetime, but it was an experience.

Flag of Spain

During my holidays in Benidorm and a few other places in Spain I wandered through the Spanish nature in the hinterlands of (e.g.) Benidorm and I was caught by its beauty. It really was overwhelming.

As a haiku poet I immediately was caught by that beauty. In the hinterlands of Benidorm you can wander as far as you would like, but you can also climb mountains. On one of those mountains in the hinterlands of Benidorm there stands a great luminous cross. It's on one of the highest points around Benidorm. In 2006, as we were visiting Benidorm for the last time, I created the following haiga:

haiku and phot © Chèvrefeuille

Let us take a look at the beauty of the Spanish nature

Park Natural del Montseny (Spain)

landscape unfolds
in the early sunrise, mist disappears -
a nightingale's song

© Chèvrefeuille

Natural Cabarceno Park, Cantabria, Spain

the rough landscape

reaches to the deep blue sky

so impressive

© Chèvrefeuille (2012)

Cabaña de Pastores, Asturias, Spain

high in the mountains
between the colors of autumn
abandoned shack

© Chèvrefeuille

Isn't it awesome ... just a small "sight seeing" through the wonderful nature of Spain ... Spain became a member of the EU back in 1986.

I have searched for Spanish haiku poets and I ran into a few wonderful haiku by a very gifted Spanish haiku poet, Guillermo Delgado ... He is not only a very gifted haiku poet, but he also is a great photographer ... visit his weblog at: Guillermo Delgado

Waiting for the train —

So many dreams to begin —

A sky with no end.

As the train departs,

A fog swallows my city—

No more leaves to rake.

Train fractures the night–

its horns blast late winter blues;

making my way home.

As the train arrives,

The cicadas get louder;

Dream in the etchers.

Ancient Railroad

rusty railroad
overgrown with Ivy and grass
the final station ?

© Chèvrefeuille

I hope you did like this episode. I created it in a slightly different way then our other episodes of this month, but I think the major goal of a haiku poet is to create an impression of our beautiful nature.

PS. I couldn't retrieve an email address of Guillermo Delgado, so I couldn't ask permission to use his haiku. 

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 25th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our next episode, a new Tokubetsudesu, later on. For now ... have fun!