Carpe Diem Imagination with Paul Militaru #1 rest

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at our fourth anniversary month, October 2016. As you can see I have created an all new celebration logo for this month, but I have a few new logos too to present to you ...

Four years ago I started Carpe Diem Haiku Kai just for fun and pleasure. Then I hadn't thought that four years later Carpe Diem Haiku Kai would be still alive. Imagine ... as I started CDHK for fun and you would have asked me were I would be in the future, say 5 years later, than I would have said "I don't know, but this daily meme would be gone". I really couldn't dreamed that CDHK will be alive and kicking, but ... as we celebrate this month our 4th anniversary than I am happy, proud, but also humble. "Who am I that I can do this. Who am I still your host at CDHK. Thank you all.

Today we will start with our first guest of this month, Paul Militaru, a very gifted poet, but also a wonderful photographer. Paul has given me permission to use photos created by him to inspire you here at CDHK.
For this month I have re-created our special CD feature Imagination, in which I tried to inspire you through images, photos and more. This month I have titled that "old special feature" Carpe Diem Imagination With Paul Militaru.

This month's special logo for CD Imagination with Paul Militaru. (Background image found on Pinterest)

On his weblog: Paul Militaru Photography Portfolio he says the following about him self:

[...] "The first school I’ve finished was University of Construction, beeing construction engineer, and the second one was University of Mathematics and Computer Science.After this one I’ve done Master in Computer Science.

The last school was Arts and Technical Photography.The photography fascinated me from childhood, and the first camera, was a Smena, a russian camera on film.I’ve started to shoot in 1983.
Today I use DSLR cameras, but I don’t forget the film cameras, so I shoot on film even today.One day I’ll post photos done on film.
The conclusion is I love to learn, to read, and of course visual arts.I like paintings and pictures, classical and crossover music, I like mountains and the sea, everything is beautiful.
My vision in photography is a little bit different from others, I prefer to set my camera as perfectly as I can, and to use software (Lightroom or Photoshop), for little rares and to put my name on it.
I use different cameras, from Olympus, Pentax to Nikon or Canon fullframe for digital photography and on film from Voigtlander to Nikon even Russian cameras, and be sure I love them all." [...]

Please visit his weblog for wonderful photos ... he owns that honor, because he gave us CDHK the opportunity to celebrate our fourth anniversary.

Here is the first photo to inspire you:

"Rest" © Paul Militaru

Here is my haiku inspired on this photo:

the cooing of pigeons
no longer resonates through the street
peaceful end of day

© Chèvrefeuille

Let this photo inspire you and please, if you use the photo for your post give Paul Militaru credit for it. Thank you Paul that I may use your photos to inspire the Carpe Diem Haiku Family members in thsi celebration month.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 5th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, pen and inkstone, later on. For now .... have fun!!

Carpe Diem #1069 leafless trees

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the last episode of our tribute to Jane month. With this last episode I conclude the last modern kigo of winter extracted from Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku". It was a real joy to create this tribute month and I hope you all have that same feeling. Of course Jane will be part of CDHK forever and not only in spirit, but also in a new weekly special feature "Universal Jane" which I will launch next month as we celebrate our 4th anniversary. You can find our celebration prompt-list above in the menu.

Today leafless trees is our prompt and I think that needs no further explanation, because leafless trees we all know ... therefore I will share the haiku by Jane to inspire you immediately hereafter.

from the wind
the flute lesson
of a bare tree

wood smoke
shaping the radiant bodies
of trees in winter

in the clearing
hovering a circle of trees
their halos

© Jane Reichhold

Leafless trees (image found on Pinterest)

Again not a very long episode, but I am preparing myself for a new study, so I hadn't time enough to create a longer episode.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 4th at noon (CET). I will (try to) post our new episode, the first of our celebration month, later on. Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1068 camellia

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

In this penultimate episode I have a nice series of haiku for you extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku" by Jane Reichhold. Today our prompt is camellia and I think we have had that prompt earlier in our existence.

Here are the haiku by Jane for your inspiration:

a camellia
floating in our conversation
unspoken thoughts

curved petals
from the camellia-scented candle
dripping wax

knocked off by rain
camellias bloom again

in the puddles

© Jane Reichhold

Camellia

A short episode, but I had not enough time to create a big post.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 3rd at noon (CET). I will publish our last episode of September, leafless trees, later on. For now .... have fun!


PS. I have published our new promptlist for October, in which we will celebrate our 4th anniversary.



Carpe Diem #1067 poetry reading

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What an awesome day we have here today in The Netherlands, autumn has started, but temperatures are rising to almost 25 degrees Celsius. It's really a joy to walk the dog today and be in the garden reading poetry.

Everyone of us will have certainly read poetry, if not, than you have missed something I think. It's a joy to sit down with a cup of coffee, or another drink and read poetry. To me reading poetry, as is the prompt for today extracted from Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku", reading poetry is almost a daily task. As I visit you all an read your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form than my day is good. Of course I don't have time enough to stay on track with all of your beautiful submissions, but ... well creating CDHK takes a lot of my time.

Reading Poetry

Reading poetry you can do everywhere, outside in nature, on a bench in the park, on the veranda, or in the warmth of your home.

Reading haiku is a different "piece of cake". Haiku our passion, or tanka, is so short that you have to read the same haiku (or tanka) several times. It's like what Basho once said: "Say your poem a thousand times to hear if its a good one" or something like that. You have to read haiku aloud to hear the sequence, the breaks and more. So if you read haiku (or tanka) say them aloud ... listen to its sound, hear the beauty, feel the atmosphere, see the scene, taste the scene and touch the scene. You need all your senses to read haiku. Try it .... just try it.

Here is a short video on haiku and in this video you can "hear" how the haiku is spoken aloud to feel the scene. It's a nice video ... enjoy:

Reading poetry ... or in our case .... reading haiku (tanka) is an art "an sich", take your time to read your own haiku ....

Here is an example of poetry reading extracted from the online version of Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku":

book of poems

on each page fingerprints
of a soul

© Jane Reichhold

In her printed version you can find a wealth of haiku on reading poetry, but I don't have it at hand at the moment so I just had to use the online version.

listen
leaves are whispering
haiku
© Chèvrefeuille (Santoka Taneda's "free-style")

on the beach
I read my haiku aloud
seagulls cry

© Chèvrefeuille

I hope you are inspired ... and I hope I have triggered you to read haiku aloud and become one with the haiku.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 2nd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, Camellia, later on. Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1066 beach

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am busy with creating our new prompt-list for next month, October. In this month we will celebrate our 4th anniversary and I think I have created a wonderful list to make this month a real celebration. I hope to publish our new list later on this week.

Today our modern kigo for inspiration is, a not so common one for the time of year we are now in (virtually) winter .... and that makes it a modern kigo I think. Agaian I have chosen a few haiku by Jane Reichhold which she created as examples for our prompt of today ... beach ...

Winter beach

And here are the haiku by Jane to inspire you:

the beach is clean
with new driftwood
winter storms

the cold wind

now part of the day

at the beach

winter beach
widened by the tide
and a lone gull

the swish of surf

falling snowflakes

have a sound 

winter beach
in thin white clouds
thoughts of snow

February sun

lying on the nude beach

fully clothed

All wonderful, the last three are extracted from the online version of Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku".

Winter beach

The beach in winter ... here in The Netherlands walking on the beach is mostly like wrestling against the wind. Winter's are wet and cold and mostly without snow ...

snow?
the beach covered with foam
last night's storm

torn apart clothes
thrown against a beach pole
a winter's love

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... it is now up to you. I hope Jane and I have inspired you.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 1st at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, poetry reading, later on. For now .... have fun!

Carpe Diem Special #220 Orion, a haibun by Dolores Fegan our featured haiku poetess

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's with a kind of sadness that I publish our last CD-Special for this month. Dolores, our winner of the "prayers' - kukai, is a very gifted poetess and I have already the content for her exclusive CDHK e-book which I have titled "First Magnolia Bloom". Her E-book is almost ready and than I will prepare it for downloading here at CDHK.

Dolores, as I discovered recently, has a wonderful haibun-blog om Medium and therefore I love to share a haibun written by her and extracted from her Medium blog "Haibun Journey - View From My Window". It's a nice haibun and it fits our regular prompt "stars" in a great way. Enjoy the read.

Orion

From my window far overhead and through the trees I can see the constellation Orion. It is clear enough to make out the hilt on his belt. His bow raised high in the sky. I remember my father teaching me the names of the constellations and the stars that made them up. I do not recall all the names, but am forever blessed with fond memories.

winter hunter
stalking the night sky
bow aimed high

my father
points out the night sky
my hand in his

© Dolores Fegan

A wonderful haibun ... and now it is up to you to create haiku, tanka or a haibun inspired on this beauty by Dolores. Have fun!

Here is a haibun from my archives, titled "autumn moon"

AUTUMN MOON

departing summer
days become shorter -
the full moon

The above haiku expresses my feelings in the fall. It is now September and fall will soon come. Each season has its charm, but my heart beats more rapidly as autumn approaches. Autumn, the season of renunciation. Saying goodbye to summer and get ready for winter. The trees lose their leaves, after they have had all the colors you can imagine.

The days are getting shorter, the weather changes in to rough rains and storms.

Saying goodbye ... surely that is the keyword for fall.

 

From the haiku tradition, the moon is at its most beautiful in the fall. Living in Japan this thought is at least very strong. Here in the West moon viewing is best in winter. Maybe that's true, but ... I'm just a Western haiku poet who is really oriented on the east and therefore more at home with the thoughts that the autumn moon is the best.

I like the moon in autumn. I can enjoy the sight of the moon, our natural satellite. In autumn the moon is mysterious and can work miracles. That feeling I expressed in the above haiku, but also in many other haiku.

light of the full moon
shines through colored leaves
at last ... autumn

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 1st at noon (CET). I will post our new episode later on. For now .... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1065 stars

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

September is running towards its end, so our tribute to Jane month ends almost. In the last few weeks we found our inspiration in the modern kigo for New Year, Spring, Summer and Autumn extracted from Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku".
In this last week of September we have only one season to go, winter. So all our prompts for this week are modern kigo for winter. Our prompt for today I think is wonderful, but not exclusively for winter although ... in winter the air is thin and bright so in winter we can see the stars better than in the other seasons.

Rise like a phoenix

Stars ... what to say about stars? Maybe its a coincidence, but last year (2015) September 26th we had a nice episode about "Phoenix", a constellation and as I was preparing this episode I looked back at that episode and extracted my haiku from that episode to share here again.

like a phoenix
the sun rises every day again
conquering the night

phoenix spreads its wings
after the dark cold winter night
finally spring

© Chèvrefeuille

What an awesome month that was back in 2015, but let us go now into the future, today our prompt is stars and these are the haiku which Jane Reichhold created as examples for this modern kigo for winter.

silence
the dust of stars'
shining radiance

a few flakes
still falling
stars

soul bathing
in hot springs
desert stars

cold stars
dropping into the ocean
snowflakes

 

before one star
beams from the lighthouse
search the sky

into the sky
notes from the harp
light stars

All wonderful haiku (by Jane) extracted from both the printed version and the online version of Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku". 

I hope all these beauties have inspired you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form. I wasn't inspired enough, so I re-share a haiga which I created back in April.

And here are two tanka, not really my "cup of tea", but sometimes I love to use that form and I think this "cascading" tanka is nice to share here.

the heavenly river
seen in the middle of the night
giving birth
to billions of stars
the Milky Way

through the broken window
I think of Galileo Galilei -
the sun in the middle
Earth is dancing around him -
the heavenly river

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you did like this episode and that Jane (and maybe me) have inspired you to write /create a new haiku or tanka.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 1st at noon (CET), I will (try to) publish our new episode, beach, later on. Have fun!

 

Carpe Diem #1064 driftwood

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. I am on the nightshift, so I will not publish a big post today. In this month for Jane I have the prompts extracted from her modern saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku" and today's prompt driftwood is from the autumn livelihood section.

I wasn't easy to create an episode on driftwood, but I found another nice haiku poet, John Stevenson, who wrote the following haiku on "driftwood", a nice one I think:

winter beach
a piece of driftwood
charred at one end

© John Stevenson (1948 -)

driftwood

Driftwood ... as I was searching for more on driftwood I ran into wonderful pieces of art made from driftwood ... but I like the "natural" driftwood more.

Here is the haiku extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku" which Jane wrote as an example for this modern kigo "driftwood":

driftwood
sweater gray in
brown tones

© Jane Reichhold

I didn't know how to translate this word "driftwood", but after some research I understand what this "driftwood" is and than I ran into a few other haiku on "driftwood" by Jane Reichhold. And of course I love to share them here also for your inspiration:

high tide
the secret script
of driftwood scraps

on the island
no one goes to
driftwood

scattered
among driftwood
drifters

driftwood

up and down
driftwood lairs of lovers
come and go

© Jane Reichhold

And I found another nice one, but that one I have used at our "Tribute To Jane" tumblr.

I like this modern kigo, but I also found it very difficult to create a haiku with it, but I have given it a try and came up with this one, not a haiku, but a tanka:

strolling over the beach
beachcombing lovers
looking for driftwood
secret place for lust
tasting her salty skin

© Chèvrefeuille

Hmm ... I don't know ... tanka isn't really my "cup of tea". I hope Jane has inspired you.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 30th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our next episode, stars, later on and our last CD-Special by Dolores. For now ... have fun! 

 

Carpe Diem #1063 butterfly

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you have noticed maybe I had a kind of delay yesterday and couldn't publish on time, so here is our second episode and than we are back on track.

Today we have a prompt which we have seen here very often and recently we had a nice Tokubetsudesu episode on Ese in which we could read several beauties in which butterflies played the leading role. Today our prompt is butterfly.

Butterflies are synonymous with change, metamorphosis, lightness, growth, messengers of the gods ... so there is a broad range of themes in wghich we can use this modern kigo "butterfly", however "butterfly" is also a classical kigo, the only thing that's different is that the modern kigo "butterfly" is for autumn and the classical kigo "butterfly" is for summer.

As I started preparing this episode I first thought of that beautiful haiku by Moritake:

a fallen blossom
returning to the bough, I thought --
but no, a butterfly

© Arakida Moritake (1473-1549) (Tr. Steven D. Carter)

Butterfly

Why came this haiku in mind? Well ... when I was doing my research for this prompt I ran into a beautiful haiku by Jane Reichhold in which the same idea, the riddle, is used. So I just had to share that haiku here with you:

a falling leaf
up from the earth
a matching butterfly

© Jane Reichhold

Do you see the "riddle" in this one? It's the same as in the haiku by Moritake.

And here are a few other examples of this modern kigo extracted from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku":

migrating
yet the monarch takes time
to visit me

white butterfly
afternoon Sunshine
slides away

© Jane Reichhold

Butterfly on Lycoris

Today I have chosen to share a tanka with you inspired on the beautiful haiku by Jane Reichhold:

Pygmalion's lesson
every man and woman has to be
like a caterpillar
growing to the next level
become a butterfly

© Chèvrefeuille

And a haiku from my archives:

fragile wings
pointing the way to transformation -
the summer breeze

© Chèvrefeuille

Inspiration enough I would say (smiles) ... I am looking forward to all of your wonderful haiku and tanka.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 29th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our next episode, driftwood, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1062 Candles

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at this belated episode of our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, there were a few circumstances which took my time, so my excuses for the delay.

Today our prompt is candles and it's extracted from Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku" (the printed version). As I started preparing this episode a haiku by Yosa Buson (1716-1784) came in mind:

shokunohiwo shokuni utsusuya harunoyuu

one candle
gives its light to another -
spring evening

© Yosa Buson (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

Candlelight ... brings warmth and happiness, but also fear because of the shadows it casts on walls or reflections in the window. Candlelight to me means however romance, warmth, love and more positive feelings.

candles in the moonlight

Here are the haiku examples by Jane Reichhold for this modern kigo of autumn, in these haiku you will also see the classical kigo "moon" (tsuki):

lighting a candle
the moon slips away
in a smoky cloud

replacing the candle
the full moon comes
in the window

moonset
into the dawn burns
a candle

© Jane Reichhold

All wonderful haiku with the modern kigo "candle" and the classic kigo "moon" what a beautiful symbiosis ...

Yellow Chrysanthemums

Another haiku by Yosa Buson, makes this complete I think:

teshokushite iro ushinaeru kigikukana

in the light from the candle held
their color lost--
yellow chrysanthemums

© Yosa Buson (Tr. William R. Nelson)

What to say more about this modern kigo "candle"? Do I need to create a haiku myself on this modern kigo? Or ...

reflections
the light of the candle
on her face

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope that Jane and Buson inspired you to create haiku or tanka. Have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 29th at noon (CET). I will publish our new episode, butterfly, also today.

Delayed post

Dear Haijin, visitors and travellers,

During circumstances I will post our new episode 'candles ' later than planned.
Sorry for the delay.

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille your host.

Carpe Diem #1061 waterfall

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today autumn starts and that means it is September 22nd, the autumn equinox. So our prompts this week fit the time of year. Our prompt for today is waterfall and it is extracted from the online version of Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku" on her personal website.
As I was creating this episode I thought back to the start of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. Why? Because the first prompt ever on CDHK was "waterfall". I even remembered the haiku which I used to inspire you:

waterfall of colors
leaves whirl through the street -
departing summer

© Chèvrefeuille

It was also a haiku of autumn, so this cannot be a coincidence, this must be the spirit of Jane.

We have had "waterfall" as prompt several times here at CDHK, so (again) a reprise episode? Well ... to me that's okay and I hope you all don't mind too.

Let me give you the haiku by Jane to inspire you:

red rock waterfall
into emerald pools
cedar incense

water blackened rocks
falling with the waterfall
some of them

chipped rock
the shape of water
falling

white rim
on black rock light falling
with the water

© Jane Reichhold

 

And here is my response on these beauties by Jane. I first thought to use one of my archives, but finally I decided to re-create an oldie into a new one. In this haiku I have sought to use the "free-style" way of Santoka Taneda.

the waterfall
ah! that sound ...
mesmerizing

© Chèvrefeuille

I hope Jane has inspired you all to create haiku, tanka or an other Japanese poetry form.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 27th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, candles, later on. Have fun!

Carpe Diem Extra September 20th 2016 our 4th anniversary

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you all know next month, October, we will celebrate our 4th anniversary. I am proud to have the opportunity to create another celebration month. As I started back in 2012 I couldn't have dreamed that Carpe Diem Haiku Kai would be still alive and kicking .... but we are.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai cannot exist without you, my dear Haijin, without you who are part of this wonderful community of haiku poets from all over the globe (and beyond) Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is nothing. Therefore I wish to thank you all ... ARIGATO ... and I bow as deep as I possibly can ... like a "real" Japanese man

Why this CDHK Extra? I need your input for our celebration month. I have done already some pre-work of course, but I love to ask your input too. In our four years of existence we have had wonderful prompts, but also some lesser prompts, we also have had our heights and depths, but we always recovered from everything.
Which prompts you love to see back again in our celebration month? Do you have a special request for something we haven't done yet here? It's up to you ... let us celebrate like the warmhearted family we are ...

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille

PS.: You can write your suggestions, the reprise prompts or something else in the comment field.

Carpe Diem #1060 twilight

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another day in "haiku paradise" were we are honoring Jane Reichhold with an exclusive tribute to Jane month in which I use only modern kigo extracted from Jane's saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku", mostly the printed version, but sometimes the online version on AHA-poetry, Jane's own website.

Today I love to start this episode with a song from the soundtrack of the movie-series "The Twilight Saga" based on the novels by Stephanie Meyer. I don't have read her novels or have seen the movies, but I ran into a wonderful piece of music from the soundtrack. (Video made by: Fueled by Ramen; the musicians are: Paramore performing "decode" from the soundtrack of Twilight Saga the movies)

Of course I don't know the taste of music of you all or Jane's music taste, but I think this music is awesome and fits the "twilight" prompt for today. Of course the haiku by Jane to inspire you have nothing to do with vampires and werewolves, because that's the theme of the Twilight Saga.

Twilight ... that small time between the ending of the day and the beginning of the night with its deepblue, almost black, color. The last sunbeams disappear behind the horizon and the reflected light of the sun that let shine the moon starts to glow ... awesome time, mysterious, but also very spiritual in my opinion. In the twilight I feel the magic and energy of nature of the spirits around us ... the twilight gives new energy and gives us the opportunity to rest and recover to welcome a new dawn.

Here are the haiku by Jane which she uses as an example for this modern kigo "twilight":

darkness slipping in
water that cannot be still
twilight

nautical twilight
the sea gives its last light
to the sky

twilight
among early stars
sea bird's cry

© Jane Reichhold

Twilight

How to accomplish this beautiful series by Jane Reichhold, the Queen of Haiku and Tanka ... I really don't know. So I dived into my archives to search for a few haiku I wrote on "twilight" ...

in the twilight
only the song of cicadas -
my love's breathing

in the twilight
mist creeps over the fields -
stars twinkle *

in the twilight
as stars twinkle bright and clear
Honeysuckle perfume

© Chèvrefeuille

* this one was the "hokku" of our first Renga Party back in August 2015 you can re-read this renga HERE.

I hope Jane (and maybe myself) inspires you to create an all new haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 25th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, waterfall, later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share!

Carpe Diem #1059 Harvest Moon

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our daily haiku meme Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. This month we have a tribute to Jane month to honor the Queen of Haiku and Tanka, Jane Reichhold who passed away back at the end of July.
Yesterday I honored her wisdom and knowledge and today I will step back, because it's not about me, but it's about Jane, my close friend, mentor and co-host who I miss dearly.

Today's prompt is Harvest Moon. And it just happens to have been Harvest Moon, because Harvest Moon is the name for the full moon of September. It's the full moon closest to the autumn equinox which will take place on September 22nd. The Harvest Moon of this year was an awesome one, it was a bright one and the moon looked bigger than ever, because she was closer to us than in other months.

Harvest Moon

With this prompt we enter the autumn section of Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku" from which I have extracted all the prompts, all modern kigo (seasonwords), for this tribute month. Through the haiku she, Jane Reichhold, uses as examples for the modern kigo I hope to inspire you to create haiku or tanka to honor Jane ...

harvest
the golden grain color
in the moon

the harvest moon
bringing in the pumpkins
yet on the porch

© Jane Reichhold

And than this beauty, also by Jane Reichhold, but taken from the online version of "A Dictionary of Haiku" ... a real masterpiece:

turning out the light
renting the room to the moon
for a night

© Jane Reichhold

Ah ... that last scene ... so mysterious, so full of spirituality, so full of romance and even full of sensuality ... awesome haiku ...

Singing Moon

Here is my response on this prompt inspired on the haiku by Jane to honor her:

through the broken window
I can see the Harvest Moon -
a song for my friend
white Chrysanthemums and red Roses
Singing Moon *

Singing Moon
the old Celtic druids already knew
autumn equinox
I look at the Corn Moon *
through the broken window

© Chèvrefeuille

* Singing Moon and Corn Moon are also names for the full moon of September.

I hope you did like this new episode and I hope that Jane has inspired you to create / write haiku or tanka.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 24th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, twilight, later on. For now ... have fun ... be inspired and share your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form with us all.

Carpe Diem Special #219 Dolores' 3rd colorful mushrooms

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As I promised you yesterday I will publish the third CD-Special by Dolores today. I just hadn't time and I had the flu, so all was to much for me, but I am recovering from the flu and I am glad to bring you another wonderful CD-Special in which I feature the beautiful poetry of Dolores of Ada's Poetry Alcove, our winner of the "prayers" kukai.

Dolores ia a wonderful and very gifted haiku poetess and she is, as are many of you, a longtime participant of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. And in her haiku I sense the connection with nature and the love for nature, which makes haiku what it is ... a short poem in which a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water is caught ... haiku is just an impression of a scene the poet or poetess encountered.

For today's CD-Special "colorful mushrooms" I have chosen a series of haiku which Dolores wrote in October 2015 and in those haiku she catches the spirit of autumn, the beauty of autumn.

colorful mushrooms (wild chanterelle)

We are encountering autumn in a few days (or spring if you live on the Southern hemisphere) and in these haiku by Dolores I really sense the beauty of departure, letting go, release ....:

colorful mushrooms
within the decaying tree
new life from old

leaves and clouds
race the setting sun
across the lake

sounds of summer fade
crisp air echoes with crickets
and crunch of dry leaves

sunlight dances
on the back of autumn trees
leaves spiral downward

© Dolores of Ada's Poetry Alcove

Do you sense autumn in these beauties? Summer departs, trees are starting to become more colorful, as do the mushrooms; dry and colored leaves swirl around, you can smell decay ... you can feel the wind through your hair. I can hear the laughter of children playing with leaves, seeking oak-nuts, chestnuts ... wow autumn ....

autumn storm

Autumn however is not only beauty, but also decay and heavy storms that uproot trees. Instead of the sweet scenes above I love to respond with the more stronger, heavier appearance of autumn with the following series:

vanishing summer
leaves begin to color
autumn will soon be there
the heavy rains and storms collide
trees uprooted

trees uprooted
tiles broken on the streets
the force of nature

the force of nature
finally after the autumn storm
the sight of the full moon
brings back good memories
vanishing summer

© Chèvrefeuille

That also is autumn ....

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 24th at noon (CET). I will publish immediately hereafter our regular episode, Harvest moon.

Carpe Diem #1058 wisdom

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First ... I am becoming better the flu has gone, but it will take a few days to recover fully. Thank you all for your kind words.
Second ... As I published the results of our "prayer" kukai I also invited you to submit for our new kukai in tribute for Jane Reichhold. The submitting time is over (it ended September 15th), but I have to less submissions to start the judging. So I love to prolong this kukai in tribute for Jane with two weeks ... so if you want to submit haiku for this tribute for Jane kukai you can email your submissions to our email address carpediemhaikukai@gmail.com until September 30th 10.00 PM (CET). You can find the tribute to Jane kukai information HERE.
Third ... today I planned to create a post on wisdom (our prompt for today), and I will do that, but I will not use haiku by Jane Reichhold, but I love to honor her wisdom in this episode. So here we go ...

As you all know Jane was one of the pillars on which CDHK is built and I was honored that I got the opportunity to get exclusive rights to publish three of her "bare bones school of ..." series here at CDHK.

wisdom
caught in a few words
fireworks

© Chèvrefeuille

fireworks

And "fireworks" it was and is. Jane published three wonderful books on our beautiful Japanese poetry forms we honor here. First there was "the bare bones school of haiku". Than "wind-five folded school of tanka" and last but certainly not least there was "bare bones school of renga". All three books are a pleasure to read and a joy to use. Jane had not only the talent for writing haiku, tanka and renga, but she also had the talent to teach ... She always found the right words to explain things, as we all have seen in her CD-special feature "Ask Jane ...".
As I look at myself than I only can say that not only Matsuo Basho was my master, but Jane Reichhold also. She learned me to place the classic haiku in modern times and that all those rules haiku has are not that strict ... what I learned from her was this "In haiku you can share all your feelings your emotions your ideas without using the rules". "Look at Basho he said "now you know the rules, forget them immediately ... enjoy writing haiku". I think that is the most important rule, the most important thing I have learned from Jane's passion for haiku and tanka ... enjoy it.

enjoy the little things
see the shepherd's purse
beneath the hedge

© Chèvrefeuille

Jane was not only a close friend and co-host, but also my sensei ... I bow for you Jane ... thank you for your knowledge and wisdom ... my sensei

You can find the above mentioned e-books in Jane's Library here at CDHK.

For this episode I love to ask you to write about what you have learned from Jane Reichhold. Was she your sensei too? And try to catch that in a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 24rd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our next episode, Harvest moon, later on.

PS.: I had planned to publish the 3rd CD-Special by Dolores also today, but I have decided to publish that 3rd CD-Special tomorrow, I hope you don't mind. It gives me more time to dive into Dolores' work.