Carpe Diem #1789 The Winter Trees (Crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the penultimate episode of November. In this month our theme was / is "Never Change A Winning Team" and that means that it all was about haiku, my first love. For this episode I have chosen a nice set of haiku.

Yosa Buson (source: wiki-art)

The task is to create a "fusion-ku" from the two given haiku and create a Troiku with it, so this episode is a "Crossroads" episode. Here are the two haiku to work with:

cutting into with the ax,
I was surprised at the scent.
the winter trees.

unfolding at the
hand of the glass polisher:
a camellia!

© Yosa Buson

Two wonderful haiku by one of the "big five" haiku poets.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 6th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our weekend meditation later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Wednesday (7) Old Pond

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize ... I have a very busy week, so I hadn't time to publish on time. Last Wednesday I totally forgot that we have a weekly feature on Tan Renga every Wednesday, so here is the Tan Renga Wednesday episode of this week.
Your task is to complete a given haiku by adding a two-lined stanza and create a Tan Renga in that way.

For this week's Tan Renga Wednesday I have chosen that world famous haiku by Basho:

old pond
a frog jumps in
sound of water

© Basho (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

This Tan Renga Wednesday is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 5th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1788 In The Moonlit Night (Revise That Haiku)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai were we are "honoring" haiku, the most beautiful poem on Earth.

Today I love to challenge you to "revise" a haiku by one of the classical masters, Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902). Shiki was the haiku-master that gave haiku its name and he was the one that brought haiku into the 20th century.

Here is the haiku to "revise":

the wild geese take flight
low along the railroad tracks
in the moonlit night

© Masaoka Shiki

First Steam Train (Woodblock print)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 2nd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1786 & #1787 (double episode)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today I have a double episode for you, because during circumstances I couldn't publish yesterday. So this episode I will give you two themes to work with, both episodes have their own linking widget.

(#1786) Renga with Chèvrefeuille.

For this first part of this double episode I have chosen for "Renga With Chèvrefeuille", I will give you six haiku written by myself and extracted from my personal website "Chèvrefeuille's Haikublog". The goal is to add your own two lined stanza to make the Renga (Junicho = a 12 stanza renga) complete. You may choose your own "line-up".

reaching for the sun
lotus flowers blooms from the mud
old pond changes

deep silence
even deeper as the nightingale starts to sing
beautiful life

snow falls gently
covers up the autumn fields
faraway sounds

Reflections

reflections

scattered by autumn leaves

the old pond

a last leaf

swirls on the wind towards the east -

first snow falls gently

farewell verse

as I depart from the train station

forget me not

© Chèvrefeuille

NOW OPEN for your submissions until December 2nd at noon (CET).

(#1787) Modern kigo

For the second part of this episode I have chosen a modern kigo taken from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku". It's an autumn kigo. As you all know Jane was once my co-host here at CDHK and she is still missed. So create your haiku in honor of her.

Here is the theme: Autumn Equinox

And here are a few examples of haiku with this modern kigo created by Jane Reichhold (1937-2016):

autumn equinox
cool wind comes scented
sun-hot pine needles

autumn equinox
putting porch furniture away
getting it out again

© Jane Reichhold

Autumn Equinox

Two beauties by Jane ... and now it is up to you to create haiku with this modern kigo. This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 2nd at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #110 Carpe Diem Transformation ... Bush Warbler

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday November 24th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our CD Weekend Meditation ... Maybe you remember that new feature I introduced a while ago "Carpe Diem Transformation" in which I challenge you to "re-build" a given haiku into a tanka. In the first episode of this feature I challenged you to "re-build" a famous haiku by Chiyo-Ni (that episode you can find HERE).

And for this weekend meditation I have chosen a haiku by that other famous haiku master, Matsuo Basho. I have chosen a not so well-known haiku by him, but I think you remember it from our series about "Haiku Writing Techniques", it's one of his Karumi haiku. Karumi (lightness) was Basho's Haiku Writing Technique he strived his whole life for.

Here is the haiku to "re-build" into a tanka:

Uguisu ya mochi ni fun suru en no saki

A spring warbler casts
A dropping on the rice cakes —
The veranda edge.

© Basho

Bush Warbler

What is karumi?

Bashô developed this concept during his final travels in 1693. Karumi is perhaps one of the most important and least understood principles of haiku poetry. Karumi can best be described as “lightness,” or a sensation of spontaneity. In many ways, karumi is a principle rooted in the “spirit” of haiku, rather than a specific technique. Bashô taught his students to think of karumi as “looking at the bottom of a shallow stream”. When karumi is incorporated into haiku, there is often a sense of light humor or child-like wonderment at the cycles of the natural world. Many haiku using karumi are not fixed on external rules, but rather an unhindered expression of the poet’s thoughts or emotions. This does not mean that the poet forgets good structure; just that the rules of structure are used in a natural manner. In my opinion, karumi is “beyond” technique and comes when a poet has learned to internalize and use the principles of the art interchangeably.

So ... your goal is to "re-build" this beauty into a tanka ... take your time.

This Weekend Meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday November 24th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until Sunday December 1st at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have a wonderful weekend full of inspiration.

Carpe Diem #1785 Hoarfrost (kigo for winter)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I know you all like to create haiku with a given kigo (seasonword) as we have seen here often at CDHK. So today, in our month with "Never Change A Winning Team", I have a nice kigo for you to work with. Today I love to challenge you with the following kigo: Hoarfrost.

What is "hoarfrost"? Hoarfrost is a grayish-white crystalline deposit of frozen water vapor formed in clear still weather on vegetation, fences, etc.. Here in The Netherlands we have seen that already this month. Just recently we had still weather and it was a bit misty ... and it was cold ... so the world looked awesome as described in the definition of "hoarfrost" above.

Hoarfrost

Today your task is to create a classical haiku, following the classical rules as you can read in our Carpe Diem Lecture 1 above in the menu.

Here is one about "hoarfrost" chosen from my archives, it's not a classical haiku, but ... well I hope you will forgive me for that.

fragile beauty
cranberries covered with sugar
first hoarfrost

© Chèvrefeuille

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

Carpe Diem #1784 soaking wet (Crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month our theme is "Never Change A Winning Team" and it's all about haiku, my first love. In the seven years of CDHK I have always tried to stay with my first love, haiku, but that changed during the years.

From the haiku I invented a few new poetry forms, like the Troiku and the "fusion-ku". Today I love to bring both forms together. I have chosen two haiku by one of the renown classical masters and your task is to create a "fusion-ku" and to create a Troiku with that "fusion-ku".

Pampas Grass

Here are the two haiku to work with:

soaking wet
I can’t read the letters
on the signpost

walking through
the bush clover, the pampas grass,
walking on through them

© Santoka Taneda

Two nice haiku by Santoka Taneda I would say, maybe you can remember them, because I used them earlier here at our wonderful Kai.

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

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Wednesday (6) at dawn (hineri)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It is Wednesday again ... so time for new episode of our special feature "Tan Renga Wednesday". This week I love to challenge you to create the "hokku" (the three lined stanza) instead of the "ageku" (two-lined stanza).

I will give you the two lined stanza and than it is up to you to create the "hokku" to make the Tan Renga complete.

Here is the two-lined 2nd stanza:

at dawn birds start to sing
praising their Creator ... as always

© Chèvrefeuille

A nice 2nd stanza I dare to say, so it's now up to you to create the first part, three lined stanza, of this Tan Renga.

At Dawn

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 26th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... be creative.

Carpe Diem #1783 a bell resounds ... Shiki's "shasei"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new (somewhat delayed) episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai, the place to be if you like to write and share haiku (or other Japanese poetry form) with the world.
This month it's mostly about haiku, as the theme says "Never Change A Winning Team", because haiku was my first goal as I started with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai back in 2012. So today I have a few haiku to inspire you to create new haiku.

For today's episode I have chosen a few haiku by Masaoka Shiki, one of the "big-five" haiku poets. The given haiku are for your inspiration and I hope you will be inspired to create new haiku.

Eggplant

sketching from life —
eggplants are harder to do
than pumpkins

i bite into a persimmon
and a bell resounds —
Hōryūji

© Masaoka Shiki

* Both haiku are examples of Shiki's "shasei" ("sketch from life")

Horyu-ji (Buddhistic Temple)

Let the given haiku inspire you to create new haiku and share it with us all here at our Haiku Kai. If you want to read more about "shasei"? Than click HERE.

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

Carpe Diem #1782 freestyling haiku ... Devouring Apricots

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize for not publishing a weekend meditation, I really hadn't time. I had a very busy weekend at work so I couldn't create a weekend meditation. Sorry for that.

This month it's all about "Never Change A Winning Team", but today I love to challenge you with a kind of "let the winning team go", why? Well ... maybe you know that we have had here at CDHK once a feature about "freestyling" haiku. In that feature I challenged you to create a so called "free-style haiku", a haiku that doesn't follow the classical rules and that has as less as words as is possible. Let me give you an example:

kissing
tongues melt together
as one

© Chèvrefeuille

No classical rules, a minimum of words, but still a wonderful haiku. This is what I call a "free style haiku". For this episode I will give you a few haiku by Jane Reichhold and your challenge is to "re-create" these given haiku into a "free style haiku".

Here are the haiku from Jane's online version of "A Dictionary of Haiku". I have chosen one from each season:

(spring)

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

(summer)

devouring apricots
the fine hairs of her mustache
moist and juicy

Apricots

(autumn)

broken by the storm
the asters' fragrance rises
out of damp earth

(winter)

rusty red the bracken
its shape lost as the cold
takes the bird's wing

© Jane Reichhold

Four beautiful haiku I think and you have to "re-create" them as a "free style haiku". A nice challenge I think.

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

Carpe Diem #1781 The Quest For A New Masterpiece Continues ... colorful autumn

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. This month our theme is "Never Change A Winning Team", and it's all about (mostly) haiku. At the start of CDHK I focused on haiku alone and in my opinion that worked awesome, so this month I hope to challenge you to create haiku.

Maybe you can remember our special feature "Quest For A New Masterpiece" and today I love to challenge you to create your New Masterpiece, there is only one restriction ... you have to follow the classical rules (more you can find above in our Lecture 1).

The theme for your New Masterpiece is "Colorful Autumn", so your masterpiece has to do with autumn. Look around you ... see the beauty of autumn ... let your senses come in contact with autumn and let your muses inspire you.

autumn has come
leaves re-painted by Mother Earth -
she ... the moon ... lovely

© Chèvrefeuille

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

Carpe Diem #1780 The Old Pond by Basho

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize for being late with publishing our episode of today. I had a very busy Wednesday, so I hadn't time to publish it yesterday. But today ... well I think I have a nice challenge for you all.

Today I love to challenge you to "Revise That Haiku". I will give you a haiku and the story behind it and your task is to "revise" it.

I have chosen that renown haiku by Matsuo Basho. I think a lot of people all around the globe will know this so famous haiku by the Master ... yes it's "The Old Pond". Let me give you the haiku and the background of it.

furu ike ya / kawazu tobi komu / mizu no oto

old pond
a frog jumps into
the sound of water

This verse, now so famous, was first published in a selection of haiku 'Haru no Hi' (Spring Day). What, at first made his haiku interesting was the fact that in poetry up until this time, frogs were mentioned for their croaking but never for their leaping. However, with the passage of time, countless translations and copies, this haiku has only grown more special.

The background of this haiku is not so well known, so let me tell you something about that ...
Basho was living in a hermitage in Edo (nowadays Tokyo) where there was a pond. There were some Japanese yellow roses (yamabuki) growing around it. On one quiet early spring day, around the end of March, Basho was with Kikaku and heard a frog jump into the pond. It was a moment when he understood the idea of tranquility. One of Badho's disciples, Shiko wrote about the process in his haiku essay, "Kuzu no Matsubara" published in 1692.

[...] First Baso thought of the 7-5 sound units, "kawazu tobi komu mizu no oto", conveying the idea that "a frog jumped in with the sound of water". Then he tried to think of a good 5 units for the first line. Kikaku proposed 'yamabuki ya' (Japanese yellow rose). Basho said that yamabuki would be elegant, but to showy. He said 'furu ike ya' should be used because it is simple and truthful' [...]

Kikaku's idea was easly understood and the combination of a frog and yamabuki was common at that time, but Basho's was a novel idea. The word ''old pond'' was from traditional Chinese literature and was associated with the hermit life. Many haiku poets were so impressed with this modest simplicity that several stories related to Zen Buddhism were fabricated about the haiku.
Isn't it a wonderful story? It's a joy to read how even Basho sometimes had trouble with the composing of his haiku. Haiku is a way of collaborating poetry as we have seen above.

Maybe you think "Can I really "revise" this renown haiku written by one of the best haiku poets?" Yes you can I think, don't be shy ... I think Basho would be happy to see how you are "revising" his haiku, because haiku is collaborating poetry.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 20th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on today.

delayed post

I haven't had time to publish our new episode. My apologies for it. I hope to publish it today.

Namasté,

Chèvrefeuille 

Tan Renga Wednesday (5) White Crane

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's Wednesday again, so time for a new episode of "Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Wednesday", that special feature in which I challenge you to complete a Tan Renga inspired on a given haiku.
This week I have chosen a haiku by Kikaku, a contemporary and disciple of Matsuo Basho. Kikaku was one of Basho's favorite 10 disciples (students) and he was a very gifted haiku poet too. He wrote wonderful haiku, all in the way as been taught by Basho.

The haiku I have chosen written by Kikaku is one of his most beautiful haiku in my opinion. He wrote it to comfort Basho in his last days of his life:

how I wish to call
a white crane from Fukei,
but for this cold rain.

© Kikaku

And now it is up to you to complete this Tan Renga by adding your two lined stanza (approx. 7-7 syllables) and share it with us all.

This Tan Renga Wednesday is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 19th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1779 Cliffs of Moher ... a tribute to Jane Reichhold

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. As you all know we are over 7 years now and in those seven years there were a lot of wonderful themes to work with. You all know that here at CDHK we have a so called "publishing policy" (you can find this at the bottom of our Kai) in which we all have decided that if you are a part of this Haiku loving family and participate in our challenges and themes ... you agree with using your work for our exclusive line of E-books, but it also stated that I can use your work here ... ofcourse I will always grant your credentials.

Today I love to challenge you with a haiku written by one of our longtime members, Hamish Managua Gunn (a.k.a. Pirate). This haiku he wrote in tribute to Jane Reichhold:

the temptation
at the chalk cliff top
I throw a rose

© Hamish Managua Gunn

With this haiku he not only gave tribute to Jane Reichhold, but he also honored her for her choice. A very strong haiku with a very strong emotion in it.

Cliffs of Moher (Ireland)

As you all (maybe) know Jane Reichhold took her own life by jumping off a cliff ... she couldn't longer live with fibromyalgia. She is still missed and I know her spirit still dwells here at CDHK.

I love to challenge you to create a haiku in tribute to Jane Reichhold inspired on the haiku by Managua Gunn as given above.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 18th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, a new Tan Renga Wednesday, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1778 Free-styling haiku ...

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in our wonderful "Never Change A Winning Team" month in which we celebrate the beauty of haiku. I have what they call "a writer's block", so I couldn't come up with a beautiful episode today, therefore I have chosen to let you free ...

You can make your own choice of a haiku, maybe there is a special haiku that means a lot to you, or you have a favorite haiku written by a classical or non-classical haiku poet, maybe you will introduce one of your own masterpieces ... that's all possible today.

The only thing I would love to read in your post is "Why did you choose this specific haiku?" and I challenge you to create a new haiku inspired on the haiku of your choice.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will reain open until November 17th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #109 Renga with Basho ... life's journey

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday November 10th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Sorry for being late with publishing our new Weekend Meditation, but here it is. This weekend I love to give you the possibility to write a Renga with Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). I have selected six beautiful haiku written by him and it's up to you to create the Renga by adding your two-lined stanza.

This time I have chosen for six haiku which he wrote in the last years of his life. In the last years of his life Basho traveled a lot and in those years he created his masterpiece "Oku No Hosomichi" (The Small Road Into The High North), that haibun has become a classic piece of literature and is renown around the world.

Here are the six haiku to work with. You can choose your own "line-up" and have to try to "complete the chain" through the Hokku (starting verse) and the Ageku (closing verse). Enjoy this challenge.

spring rain
trickling into the wasp's nest
a leaky roof

blooming wildly
among the peach trees
first cherry blossoms

butterflies and birds
restlessly they rise up
a cloud of flowers

coming to the eye
especially at this time
May's Mount Fuji

life's journey
plowing the patch of rice field
back and forth

the lettuce
leaves are just as green
eggplant soup

© Matsuo Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

* all the above haiku were extracted from Jane Reichhold's "Basho, The Complete Haiku".

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday, November 10th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until November 17th at noon (CET). Have a great weekend and enjoy the "renga-session" with Basho.

Carpe Diem #1777 Classical and non-classical in symbiosis ...

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize for being late with publishing our regular episode of Friday November 8th, I hadn't time to create an episode.

This episode I love to challenge you with a "Crossroads Task". I will give you two haiku, you have to create a new haiku with those two haiku, a so called "fusion-ku". With your new haiku you have to create a Troiku (more about Troiku above in the menu).

I have chosen a haiku by a non-classical poetess, Jane Reichhold (1937-2016) and a classical poetess, Chiyo-Ni (1703-1775). Here are the two "crossroads" haiku to work with:

cricket silence
between scraping sounds
autumn begins

© Jane Reichhold

it touches the line
of my fishing pole -
this summer moon

© Chiyo-Ni

And now it's up to you to create your "fusion-ku" and your Troiku and share it with us all.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 16th at noon (CET). I will publish our new weekend-meditation later today.

Carpe Diem #1776 arranging the plum-flowers (Taigi)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

If you are a long time participant here, you will remember that special feature "Revise That Haiku", in which I challenged you to "revise" a given haiku by one of the classical haiku poets. Today I love to bring a "reprise" of one of the episodes of "Revise That Haiku".

For this episode I have chosen a haiku written by Taigi (1709-1771 ?), a contemporary and friend of Buson. I will first give the haiku (including the Japanese Romaji) and then I will give the description of the moment which led to the haiku.

Plum Blossom (Chinese painting)

umi ikete tsuki to mo wabin tomoshikage

arranging the plum-flowers,
I would enjoy them in the light of the lamp,
as if in the moonlight

© Taigi (1709-1771 ?)

The brevity of haiku is not something differnt from, but a part of the peotical life; it is not only a form of expression but a mode of living more immediately, more closely to life as may be illustrated in the above haiku by Taigi.

The original of the above haiku is even more difficult, literally: "arranging the plum, as if the moon, I would savour, lamp-light" (Wabiru translated 'enjoy', 'means' to live a life of poetry in poverty). The poet has arranged the flowers in a vase, and wishes to see them in the light of the moon, but there being no moon, he lights the lamp instead, and adds its light to the poetry and the beauty of the flowers.
The whole of the poet's life is shown in this action and the essence of the verse in wabin. This poverty, this asceticism of life and form in haiku, this absence of luxury and decoration finds its philosophical and transcendental expression in Emanuel Swedenborg's (a Swedish philosopher who lived from 1688 until 1772) "Heaven and Hell" (paragraph 178); after he has described the garments of the angels, some of which glow with flame, some of which shine with light, he adds:

"But the angels of the inmost heaven are not clothed".

Well ... with the desciption of the moment I think you can revise that haiku ... so ... "break a leg", have fun, be inspired and share your revised Taigi-haiku with us at Caroe Diem Haiku Kai.

Plum Blossom

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 13th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Wednesday (4) crystal dewdrops (hineri / with a twist)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's Tan Renga Wednesday again, that nice weekly feature in which I ask you to create a Tan Renga with a given haiku. This week I love to challenge you a little bit more with a "Tan Renga Wednesday Hineri" episode, or a Tan Renga Wednesday with a twist.

I will give you the two-lined stanza and you have to create the haiku, the first three-lined stanza, to complete the Tan Renga.

Morning Glory

Here are the two lines of the 2nd stanza to work with:

pink morning glory in full bloom
covered with crystal dewdrops                       

© Chèvrefeuille

So now it is up to you to complete the Tan Renga by adding your three-lined first stanza.

This Tan Renga Wednesday Hineri is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 12th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... be ceative and enjoy this challenge.

Carpe Diem #1775 Morning Glory!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new (somewhat belated) episode of our wonderful Kai. This month we will focus mostly on haiku, because haiku was the first theme here at CDHK and the only theme. Its therefore that I have chosen the theme for this month "Never Change A Winning Team". I will challenge you with a great diversity of haiku created by classical and non-classical haiku poets and I hope to challenge you today with a new feature.

I have titled this new feature "Carpe Diem's Transformation" and the goal is to transform a given haiku into a tanka. You have to use the scenes and images in the given haiku to create a transformed haiku into a tanka.

The first haiku I would love to see you transform into a tanka is that renown haiku by Chiyo-Ni about the Morning Glory. Here is that haiku:

asano eikou yoku baketto entanguru watashiha mizuwo motomeru

morning glory!
the well bucket-entangled,
I ask for water

© Chiyo-Ni

And now ... it's up to you to transform this beautiful haiku by this renown female haiku master into a tanka. Have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 11th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, later on. That will be a new Tan Renga Wednesday.

Carpe Diem #1774 Renga With Jane Reichhold ... apples for lunch

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the 2nd regular episode of our new month at CDHK in which the theme is "Never Change A Winning Team", and that means that we will have a lot of haiku challenges, because that was once the only poem I created CDHK for.

During the years I introduced several other forms of Japanese poetry and one of them was the Renga, or Chained Verse. Haiku was once part of a Renga and was than called Hai-Kai, Shiki chnaged that to haiku and that's the name we still use.

As you all know Jane Reichhold (1937-2016) was a great modern Haiku poetess and co-host here at our Kai. I still miss her every day. She was a wonderful source for me to get answers on questions I had, she even had her own feature here "Ask Jane ..."

Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

Today I love to challenge you to create a Renga With Jane ... I have six beautiful haiku created by her, all themed apples. I extracted these haiku from her online saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku". The goal is to add your own two-lined stanza. You can choose your own "line-up", and your "ageku" (closing verse) must be connected to the "hokku" (opening verse).

dad on high
dropping from his trees
apples for lunch

southern sunset
filling the apple bin
a deeper red

applesauce
the cinnamon glow
of a kerosene lamp

Apples For Lunch

windfall apples
palaces for worms
American pie

straight falling rain
tiny lakes upon the tree
stem hollows of apples

baskets in a row
overflowing with apples
on one a sweater

© Jane Reichhold

A wonderful series of haiku to create a Renga with ... enjoy the challenge ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 10th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

no weekend meditation

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I will not publish a weekend meditation this weekend. I don't have enough time during circumstances. My apologies for this.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Chèvrefeuille, your host.