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.
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| 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!
I didn't know that about Jane. I'm sorry to hear it, and I understand.I have fibromyalgia too. Mine generally only provides me with low-grade pain, but it is widespread and constant. The thing that most people don't understand about low-grade chronic pain is that it's exhausting even though the pain isn't especially intense, because the body is always in a fight with itself. Also, doing things which would make a person who didn't have fibromyalgia a little sore for a day or two leaves me feeling like I've been beaten up with a baseball bat, particularly my arms and legs near the joints.
ReplyDeleteMy son has fibromyalgia too. It isn't as common in men, but he postulated that it may just be that men have been taught to "play through the pain" so they don't say anything and it's underreported.
My mental illness is a constant struggle, but in some ways I don't believe that's what would push me to end my life if it ever came to that. It's an old enemy and we understand each other. The one thing that really made me consider suicide was when I had a bad injury to the median nerve in my left arm. The pain was so severe that I couldn't sit up for more than about 45 minutes at a time. If physical therapy hadn't helped, I'm not sure I could have gone on.
People who have never experienced severe pain don't realize that someone who experiences it constantly might come to a breaking point. For me, having lived with it for just a couple months, I understand from a physical as well as an empathic level now.
Thank you for sharing your story. Jane had Fibromyalgia in a very bad way, she was always in pain, but she came to her point of ending her own life, as the Fibromyalgia caught her sight too. She couldn't live without her eyes ...
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