Carpe Diem #1597 Tan Renga Challenge Month 2019 (1) morning tea

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new month here at our wonderful Haiku Kai. Yesterday I told you that I hadn't decided yet, but now ... as you can see ... I have made my choice. This month I challenge you to create Tan Renga.

For those who don't know what a Tan Renga is I will give a short explanation about Tan Renga:

Maybe you know the Tanka that poem with 5 lines following the syllables count 5-7-5-7-7, A beautiful Japanese poetry form to create. The Tanka is a poem written by one poet and that's the difference with the Tan Renga.

The Tan Renga has also 5 lines following the same syllables count as the Tanka, but the Tan Renga is written by two poets. One poet writes the first stanza of three (3) lines in the following example that will be Jane Reichhold:

Here is the first stanza of this example Tan Renga:

morning sun
the twinkle of stars
still in the dew                      (Jane Reichhold)

The goal for the second poet is create the second stanza of two (2) lines through association on the first stanza (as we do in a renga). For this example I have written the second stanza:

her bright shining eyes
she unpacks her new doll     (your host)

Morning Sun

This is what you call a Tan Renga. It's possible to leave a blanc line between the two stanzas, but you can also make it unite with each other as I do mostly. Than this is the result:

morning sun
the twinkle of stars
still in the dew                      (Jane Reichhold)
her bright shining eyes
she unpacks her new doll     (your host)

It's a wonderful way to create a short linked verse. This month I will give you a haiku every day to work with and create a Tan Renga with.

For this first episode of our new Tan Renga Challenge Month I have chosen a nice haiku written by (my master) Matsuo Basho:

for his morning tea
a monk sits down in utter silence-
confronted by chrysanthemums

© Matsuo Basho (Tr. unknown)

A beautiful, not so well known, haiku by Basho. I think this haiku can become a wonderful Tan Renga through your creative minds.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 7th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new weekend meditation later on. For now ... have fun!

PS. I would love to create an exclusive CDHK E-book about this Tan Renga Challenge Month and I hope you all will agree with that.

Carpe Diem #1596 Black Forest

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the last episode of our wonderful January 2019 month in which we have explored the beauty of classical and modern kigo (seasonword). For this last episode I have a nice modern kigo taken from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku". Today I love to challenge you to create a "fusion-ku" with the two given haiku Jane Reichhold. The modern kigo for today is "Black Forest" and here are the haiku to work with:

black forest
night extinguishes
the snow

sun and snow
still in the pines
the black forest

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from her "A Dictionary of Haiku", a modern saijiki)

Black Forest

Look at the image above ... this is what "Black Forest" is. Bare branches covered with snow. It makes nature awesome, but also mysterious and magical. I think Jane has made a wonderful choice with this modern kigo.

Here is my humble attempt to create a "fusion-ku" with these two haiku by Jane:

pines covered with snow
the sweet perfume melts in the sun
ah! listen ... that dripping

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... I don't know ... is this a "fusion-ku"? It's for sure (how immodest) a good haiku, not a masterpiece, but its one of my best since a long time.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 6th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, the first of February, later on. By the way I Haven't yet decided which theme we will have in February. I have two ideas, first a Tan Renga Challenge month or ... second another journey. I will decide later ... so I hope I can surprise you all.

Carpe Diem #1595 hawk (taka)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the penultimate episode of January 2019. This month we were exploring seasonwords for winter. Seasonwords (or kigo) are words that can be used to place a time-frame into your haiku (or tanka). Seasonwords, as the name already says are words that point to a specific season. In classical Japan there were five seasons, New Year, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. That classical tradition is still in use nowadays, but as you all know New Year season is only something of Japan and few other countries in that same region.

As we talk about classical haiku than the use of a kigo (seasonword) is one of the classical rules next to the 5-7-5 syllables-structure, a cuttingword (kireji), a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water, a deeper meaning (mostly spiritual or Buddhistic) and the interchangeable first and third line. Back in our rich CDHK history we saw several other classical rules, but the ones I mentioned are the most known and common in use.

Today I have a classical kigo for you to work with. It's taken from the section Winter subsection Animals of the Shiki classical saijiki. So today you have to create haiku with "hawk (taka)".

Hawk (Taka)

What a majestic bird this is and what a wonderful spiritual meaning this Hawk has. The hawk symbolizes the ability to use intuition and higher vision in order to complete tasks or make important decisions. ... Hawks represent the messengers of the spirit world, so seeing them definitely means the universe wants you to learn powerful lessons or expand your knowledge and wisdom.

Here is an example of a haiku by Masaoka Shiki with this kigo and a few more other haiku:

toward those short trees

we saw a hawk descending

on a day in spring.

© Masaoka Shiki

by a singular stroke

of luck, I saw a solitary hawk circling

above the promontory of Irago.

© Matsuo Basho

between bare branches

high above the white world

hawks looking for prey

messenger of heaven

circling high above my head -

re-thinking my life

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I think Hawk can give you a lot of inspiration and I am looking forward to all your responses. By the way that brings me to the following. As you have noticed I am not commenting a lot, my excuses for that, because I am far behind with commenting and I hope, I really hope to catch up a.s.a.p.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until February 6th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our last episode of this month later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1594 Cliffs ... Renga With Jane Reichhold

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy this month was and still is. We have explored classical and modern kigo for winter. We have had nice kigo and I challenged you with beautiful haiku by Jane Reichhold, all extracted from her modern saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". We even created a winter renga with Jane Reichhold.

Today I have another nice modern kigo extracted from her modern saijiki. That kigo has a little sad taste, because I have chosen for the modern kigo "cliffs" and we all know that Jane choose to end her own life by jumping of a cliff back in 2016.

Cliffs in Winter (Lake Baikal)

What a wonderful sight those cliffs in winter ... Today I challenge you to create a renga with Jane Reichhold's haiku. As you all know you may choose your own "line-up" and try to create a "closed chain" through an association on the "hokku" (starting verse) in the "ageku" (closing verse). You have to add the two lined stanza (approximately 14 syllables) to complete this Renga With Jane Reichhold.

Here are the six haiku to work with. All haiku are themed through "cliffs", our modern kigo for today.

frozen cliffs
swept by lighthouse beams
soft in the dark

giant waves
sea cliff rocks
summer sea secure

high tossed mists
warmed in morning sun
above winter cliffs

Snow on the sandstone cliffs along the shoreline of Prince Edward Island National Park, Canada

after the storm
sandstone cliffs relax pebbles
into the beach

high tide
brings storm waves
to cliff dwellers

sea spray
the cliff laced
by crystal

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku")

A nice series of haiku I would say and a wonderful opportunity to create a Renga With Jane Reichhold, one of the most wonderful modern haiku poets and a close friend she was. Her spirit is still moving around here at CDHK.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 4th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. 

Carpe Diem #1593 flowers out of season (kaeribana)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all  have had a wonderful weekend full of inspiration. I had to work this weekend, but nevertheless I had a wonderful weekend. Our youngest grandson (4 yrs) stayed with us and that was a real joy. And today we had two of our older grandkids visiting us. So I had a wonderful weekend.

This month full of classical and modern seasonwords (kigo) for winter is almost over. We have four days to go this month, so four kigo for winter to share with you for inspiration. Today I have chosen a classical kigo ... flowers out of season (kaeribana). Literally this kigo means "returnig flowers", so this one is a kigo for late winter.

Here I have a classical example by Kobayashi Issa:

yama-gawa no ushiro tsumetashi kaeri-bana

by a mountain stream
catching a chill...
out-of-season blooms

© Issa (Tr. David Lanoue)

kaeri-bana (crocus)

The first flowers we can see at the end of winter are "snowdrops", "crocus" and maybe "daffodils" and of course more kinds of flowers.

I think this classical kigo will inspire you to create your masterpieces. So try to create a classical haiku (or tanka) following the classical rules ... and let it be one of your new masterpieces ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 3rd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now .... have fun! Have a great week!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #69 Returning To Now

!! open for your submissions next Sunday January 27th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Time flies ... we say that very often and it's true. This is our last weekend meditation of January and I have chosen for a special feature from our rich history ... As you know I love to share wonderful music to inspire you. Especially the music of Karunesh I love to share here to inspire you. Karunesh
has created a wonderful kind of music that he calls "fusion". He integrates several kinds of music to one wonderful piece of music.

I once had the opportunity to have an interview with him and he has ... what we call charisma and he really creates wonderful music. For this weekend I love to challenge you to create a haiku inspired on the music of Karunesh and to create a Troiku with that haiku.

Here is the music video by Juan F

This track is titled "Returning To Now" and it's created in 2001. ("Returning To Now" is part of the album "Zen Breakfast")

Listen to the music, let it inspire you. Meditate and contemplate on it and share your Troiku with us all here at our wonderful Haiku Kai.

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday January 27th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until February 3rd at noon (CET). Have a wonderful inspirational weekend.

Carpe Diem #1592 Storm

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Winter one of the most rare seasons I think. There is so much happening in winter and sometimes winter brings us stormy weather ... Today I have chosen a nice modern kigo from Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku" ... storm.

Jane has written several haiku inspired on this theme and I love to share a few of her beauties with you all here at CDHK.

after the snowstorm
new paths to old places
the skies clear

after the snowstorm
only wood smoke drifts
into the clearing

storm clouds of winter (photo© Duncan Shaw)

storm clouds
forcing the sun to set
far out to sea

winter storms
wrapping around the house
the ocean's roar

© Jane Reichhold (extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku", section winter, sub-section celestial)

And here is my humble attempt to create a haiku (or senryu?) with this modern kigo:

roaring sound
storm embraces my home
we cuddle up

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 31st at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new weekend-meditation later on.

Carpe Diem #1591 quilt (futon)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's really winter ... snow and frost are "king" in the Lowlands and temperatures are around 0 degrees Celsius. A moment ago I came into the house after walking the dog and now ... recovering from the winter cold I lay down on the bench cuddling up under a warm quilt. What a joy ... cuddling up under the quitl grandma made me a long time ago. Sweet memories are overwhelming me ...

We are exploring classical and modern kigo for winter and today I have a nice kigo for you ... quilt (or futon). I think this one doesn't need explanation. A quilt is a kind of blanket made of several patches of cotton and stuffed with fuzz or wool. I have sought for a few haiku on this prompt and found these:

Written by Buson:

waga hone no futon ni sawaru shimoyo kana

right to my bones
through the quilt pierces
the frost tonight

Or this one also by Buson:

teshokushite yoki futon dasu yosamu kana

with lantern in hand
taking out a heavy quilt -
a cold night!

And what do you think of this one written by Issa?

korogi no kanshuku to suru fusuma kana

the cricket's
winter residence ...
my quilt

Japanese Quilt (Futon)

There are a lot of other examples I think, but I have to compose my own haiku on 'Quilt (futon)', so here I go:

quilt up to my head
laying beneath the open window
this icy cold night

her old hands
sewing another quilt for me
my grandmother

this cold winter night
laying naked under my quilt
feels like summer

© Chèvrefeuille

What a joyful kigo this is ... it can bring you all wonderful inspiration I think. Stay warm ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 30th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now .... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1590 bean soup

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Here in The Netherlands finally we have the feeling of winter. Frost and snow and of course skating. The Dutch are real winter people and as it starts to freeze and the waters are becoming ice ... we all become "insane". Winter has really started ... and than we are in for bean soup ... real winter soup and that's the modern kigo for today ... bean soup ... again extracted from Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku".

Here are a few haiku written by Jane themed "bean soup":

cold rain
falling into bean soup
chopped onions

soup cooking
in the wood stove too
rain on the roof

out shouting
rain on the roof
bean soup

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from her Saijiki)

Bean Soup

after skating
together with my loved ones
eating bean soup

© Chèvrefeuille

Look at that bean soup ... mouth watering ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 29th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1589 mandarin ducks (oshidori)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I had a busy day today so I have a reprise episode for you this time. Maybe you can remember that we have had "mandarin ducks" as a prompt several times here at CDHK. "Mandarin Ducks" is a classical kigo for winter and there are nice haiku with this kigo for example:

furu ike no oshidori ni yuki furu yuube kana

at the old pond
snow falls on Mandarin ducks
in twilight

© Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)

Or what do you think of this one by Yosa Buson:

oshidoriya ikeni otonaki kashino ame

mandarin duck -
rain falls silently
from an oak

© Yosa Buson (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

Mandarin Ducks

The adult male (sometimes called 'drake' for his colorful feathers) is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange "sails" at the back. The female is similar to female Wood Duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye, but is paler below, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.
The Mandarin ducklings are almost identical in look to Wood ducklings, and appear very similar to Mallard ducklings. The ducklings can be distinguished from Mallard ducklings because the eye-stripe of Mandarin ducklings (and Wood ducklings) stops at the eye, while in Mallard ducklings it reaches all the way to the bill.

Here are a few haiku from my archive themed "Mandarin Ducks":

in the moonlight 
Mandarin Ducks making love
happily together

brilliant colors
reflecting in the old pond
Mandarin drake

© Chèvrefeuille

And here is another one, also from my archive, but more inspired on the beautiful colors of the Mandarin Duck:

without sound

colored leaves dive into

the city park pond

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 28th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now .... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1588 delight in company

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend full of inspiration. I had a nice weekend, relaxing and taking time with my loved ones. I really enjoy the time I can share with my loved ones and that's also the theme for this new episode.

This month we are exploring classical and modern kigo (seasonwords) for winter and today I have a nice modern kigo for you taken from Jane Reichhold's Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". And that modern kigo has everything to do with enjoying the company of loved ones ... the theme today is "delight in company" and that's very important for everyone I think.

Delight In Company (©photo Anna Ivanova)

Ofcourse "delight in company" is not specific for winter, but I think in winter we enjoy it more than in the other seasons. The evenings and nights are longer and mostly in this time of year we enjoy the romance of candlelight and soft music ...

I love this time of year and I am enjoying the company of my beloved ones. In her Saijiki Jane Reichhold gives us a few wonderful examples of haiku in which she uses this modern kigo. So here are a few of those haiku to awaken your muses.

a new winter friend
up the year's steep sloping
our flow of words

bird song

under winter quilts

bodies touching

curved ink

the warmth of your hand

in the letters

© Jane Reichhold (extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku")

By the way the first haiku of the above series she wrote for a friend.

fireplace (still from a you tube clip)

warm embrace

in front of the fireplace
I see stars

© Chèvrefeuille

A nice romantic haiku I think ... isn't that what delight in company can mean also?

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

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #68 Tan Renga With Jane Reichhold "her gentle spirit"

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday 20th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend meditation, that special feature for the weekend here at CDHK. Today, January 18th, Jane would have become 82 yrs. You all know that she decided to end her life herself, because she couldn't longer live with the pain of fibromyalgia ... so this weekend I will reshare an episode of our month in honor of Jane back in 2016:

Today I have chosen another nice modern kigo extracted from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku", a complete saijiki in which Jane gathered modern kigo and gave examples of all those modern kigo by creating wonderful haiku. Today I hope to inspire you with calm through the following haiku by Jane:

a certain calm
in summer's passing
flowers

flat seas
with the butterfly's flight
a certain calm

the hour silent
before the birds awake
waves on sand

© Jane Reichhold

These haiku are wonderful and I can read Jane's fingerprints all over them. In a way Jane Reichhold created the "western" haiku without losing the respect for the Japanese haiku. She created beauty and shared it with the world. Without her the "western" haiku had died long ago, but that's my humble opinion.

As I read the above trio of haiku I felt Jane's presence and that inspired me to create the following haiku:

her gentle spirit
the calm of an early morning
a bird's song

© Chèvrefeuille

I love this haiku ... one of my best I would say (how immodest) ... Jane and I are connected in a very nice spiritual way and I hope to feel her presence forever.

The challenge for this weekend meditation is to create Tan Renga with the above three given haiku by Jane Reichhold. A Tan Renga looks like a Tanka, but is written by two poets instead of one poet. It's a kind of chained poem. You have to create the second stanza of each Tan Renga. (See also above in the menu)

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday January 20th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 27th at noon (CET). Have a great weekend!

Carpe Diem #1587 Buson's Memorial Day (busonki) (January 17th)

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. Today it's January 17th and that is Buson's Memorial Day (or busonki) and it's also a classical kigo for winter. So according to the meaning of this day ... Buson's Memorial Day ... I have a nice challenge for you all ... create a "fusion-ku" from the two haiku I will give you hereafter ... and create a Troiku with your "fusion-ku".

Here are the two haiku by Buson to use:

someone goes by wearing a hood
in his own darkness
not seeing the harvest moon

the first light snow
then when the bowl of the sky is empty
the moon hanging in the bamboos

© Yosa Buson

Haiga by Buson

Two nice haiku by Buson, but Buson was also a great Haiga painter as you can see above. He illustrated the first bound edition of Basho's "Oku No Hosomichi" (Small Road Into The Deep North).

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 24th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1586 withered leaves

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

"Withered leaves" is our modern kigo for today's episode. It's taken from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku" section: winter, subsection: plants. A wonderful modern kigo to work with I think so no further explanation needed.

Withered Leaves

And to awaken your muses ... here are a few haiku extracted from Jane's Saijiki as examples for this modern kigo:

up to a branch
wind took a winter leaf
let it fall again

snow
cooling the colors
withered leaves

frost spikes
the growing cold
of withered leaves

© Jane Reichhold

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 23rd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our next episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1585 icicles (tsurara)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. The place to be if you like to write and share haiku or other kinds of Japanese poetry. This month we are exploring modern and classical seasonwords for winter. And today I have a nice classical kigo (seasonword) for you.

The prompt for today is Icicles (tsurara) and that's a classical kigo for "late winter", but in my opinion that's not completely true, because Icicles we see through whole winter.

I have found a wonderful haiku on 'icicles' written by Issa:

yûkaze ya yashiro no tsurara hi no utsuru

night wind --
the shrine's icicles
reflect the lights

© Kobayashi Issa

Icicles (image found on Pixabay)

Well ... now it's my turn ...

icicles hanging
at the gutter of the old mansion
sun's reflections

© Chèvrefeuille

I think icicles are the most beautiful thing of winter, they are so fragile and look like crystals.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 22nd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1584 Winter Renga With Jane Reichhold -- spots of blue

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. Sorry for being this late, but I hadn't time to publish it on time. This month we are exploring modern and classical seasonwords (kigo) for winter and today I have six modern kigo for you to work with. All kigo are taken from Jane Reichhold's Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku" and are all from the section Winter, subsection Celestial.

Today I love to challenge you to create a renga with Jane Reichhold. I will give you six haiku written by her to work with (including the six modern kigo) and create a renga with. As you all know in this feature you can choose your own "line-up" of the given haiku and you have to add the two lined stanza between them. Try to make the "chain" complete by using the "hokku" and the "ageku" rule, that means the last stanza, the ageku, has to be connected to the first stanza, the hokku, through association.

Here are the six modern kigo I have chosen: air, dawn, moon, stars, first light and sunset. And here are the haiku to work with:

frost sharp air
cut into pieces by sunshine
sparkling on snow 

winter dawn
sounds of blowing snow
sleeping birds 

spots of blue
varying the light to fit
tracks in the snow 

Tracks In The Snow

cold winds
rounding snow-capped peaks
a full moon 

before one star
beams from the lighthouse
search the sky 

ocean sunset
staying by the window
'till the color sinks 

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from "A Dictinary of Haiku")

Six wonderful haiku by Jane to work with. Take the opportunity to create a renga together with Jane Reichhold in honor of her. She is still missed.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 21st at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1583 winter seclusion (fuyugomori)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the new week ... I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend and that you all have found the inspiration for our tough challenge "Troiku Hineri".

This month we are exploring the kigo for winter, not only classical but also modern kigo are the themes this month. Before the weekend we had a modern kigo by Jane Reichhold so today it's time for a classical kigo.

Today this classical kigo you can use during the whole winter, or as the classical Saijiki all say "All Winter". Winter Seclusion (fuyugomori) is our kigo today. I think it needs no explanation, but I have found a nice haiku with this kigo by Matsuo Basho. He wrote this haiku at the age of 45.

Fuyugomori (Winter Seclusion)

In rural Japan, especially in the Northern areas along the coast of the Sea of Japan, the winter is long and brings enormous amounts of snow. There was nothing much to do that sit back and wait it out. The farmhouses where difficult to heat and the family huddled around the hearth (irori) in the kitchen. It was a tough time to live through with great endurance. This is what we call winter seclusion, really a tough time.

Here is the haiku I mentioned above:

sashikomoru mugura no tomo kabuna uri

winter seclusion
the only friend to rely on
grass stuffed mattres

© Basho (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

A nice classical haiku I think, my translation is a way of free-styling, because "sashikomoru" means actually "staying indoors", but in my opinion that's almost the same as "fuyugomori" (winter seclusion).

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 20th at noon (CET). Tomorrow we will have another nice modern kigo taken from Jane's Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #67 Troiku Hineri: Apple Blossoms

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday January 13th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new edition of our CDHK Weekend Meditation. Earlier I promised you to follow the Pan American Highway in our weekend meditations this month, but I have decided to leave the Pan American Highway and give you another challenge for this weekend.

We have done this more often here at CDHK so here is your task for this weekend meditation: I will give you four haiku to work with. You may decide which haiku you want to use to create a "fusion-ku" with. Of course the "crossroads-idea" is not the only thing you have to do. I love to challenge you to create a Troiku Hineri with your "fusion-ku". What is a "Troiku Hineri"? Well let me try to explain that:

Logo Troiku Hineri

As you all know a Troiku starts with a haiku and the following three haiku start with the separated lines of the first haiku. In a "Troiku Hineri" (a Troiku with a twist) I challenge you to do the same with the three haiku following the "starter-haiku" of the Troiku. So you have to create nine new haiku with the separated lines of your first three haiku of the "regular Troiku". All together ... you have to create TWELVE new haiku and ofcourse your "fusion-ku". It's a tough challenge I think ... so take your time, meditate and contemplate on what you are going to share with us.

Here are the four haiku to work with, all haiku by Jane Reichhold and taken from her online Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku", Spring section:

light carried in my arms
apple blossoms from a neighbor
on my doorstep

clusters talking
together in admiration
apple blossoms

sun transformed
into apple blossoms
the ground is level

the dam is broken
spring cascades into valleys
as apple blossoms

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

Peacock, Apple Blossom by Bairei Kono (1899) (image found on Pinterest)

Well ... a nice, but difficult challenge for this weekend I think. But I am confident that you all can do it. Have a great weekend!

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday January 13th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 20th at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem #1582 Black Birds (modern kigo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at our wonderful Haiku Kai were we are exploring the beauty of all kinds of Japanese poetry especially haiku and tanka. This month we are exploring kigo, those nice words that point towards the season in which the haiku scene was seen. This month I have chosen kigo (classical and modern) for winter and today I have a wonderful modern kigo taken from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku", a modern Saijiki.

Winter is associated with snow, virginity, cold weather and so on. The "white-ness" in contrast with for example the blackness of several kinds of birds. Maybe you remember this beauty by Basho:

a crow
has settled on a bare branch —
autumn evening

© Basho

Crow

Of course this isn't a real winter haiku, but it can be easily set into winter in my opinion. I have  given it a try:

winter moonlight
on a bare branch covered with snow
a crow's shadow

© Chèvrefeuille

Today our modern kigo is Black Birds, extracted from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku" and here are a few haiku written by Jane taken from her above mentioned Saijiki:

flying from the branch
sun in a bird's wing
a shower of snow

blackbirds leaving
on bare winter wands
pussy willows

winter birds
kicking down fireworks
from snowy twigs

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

Black Birds

Well ... I hope I have inspired you all to create haiku with this modern kigo. Maybe you can try to create a tanka or maybe choose the classical way of haiku writing and use the classical rules. It's all up to you.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 17th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new weekend meditation later on. Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1581 Setsubun

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month we are exploring all kigo (seasonwords) for winter not only the classical kigo, but also the  modern kigo as gathered by Jane Reichhold in her Saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". Today I have a wonderful classical kigo for you to work with ... setsubun. This is a not so well known classical kigo and I think I have to give you a small explanation of this classical kigo.

Setsubun: The last day of winter. Features ritualistic chasing of devils out of the house, allowing good luck for the spring (the traditional New Year). Compare the English ritual of opening front and back doors.
Setsubun is an annual Japanese festival on February 3rd. Setsubun is the beginning of Spring according to the old Japanese lunar calendar. It's traditionally believed that the spirit world comes closer to our world at this time of year. Strips of paper with people's wishes inscribed on them are placed over the lanterns. It's thought that wishes may be granted on Setsubun, but they also think that, through the idea of having the spirit world closer by at this event, demons can escape to our world..

Daffodils ... sign of Setsubun

And here is an example of a haiku by myself themed "setsubun":

dispelling the darkness
after the long cold winter
welcoming the light

Or this one with another angle:

covered with snow
winter is coming to an end
Daffodils blooming

© Chèvrefeuille

Two nice haiku (how immodest) in which I have tried to catch "setsubun".

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 16th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

PS.: I am far behind with commenting and I don't know if I can catch up, but of course I will try.

Carpe Diem #1580 moonlight (modern kigo, extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku")

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai, the place to be if you like to write and share Japanese poetry. This month we are exploring kigo (seasonwords) for winter. Those kigo can be classical or modern and today I have chosen for a modern kigo extracted from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku", the online version.

Today I have chosen the modern kigo ... moonlight. Why is this a modern kigo for winter? Well in Japanese culture "moon" is a kigo for Autumn, but in our Western society "moon" is mostly a kigo for winter, but that is not our discussion here.

winter moonlight

Today I hope to inspire you with "moonlight" and a few haiku created by Jane Reichhold:

winter moonlight
the crystal prism turns
with the tides

surf and sea
white with the sound
of moonlight

© Jane Reichhold (extracted from "A Dictionary of Haiku")

Two nice haiku to inspire you ....

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 15th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now .... have fun!