Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Celebrates Its 9th Anniversary: #1851 A Wandering Spirit


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I have to make excuses again, one way or the other, it seems like I don't have time to create our posts. I really had hoped that I could bring an episode every day, but through several personal circumstances, it didn't work out.

This month we are celebrating our 9th anniversary and this month we are looking back into our rich and creative history. Today I love to look back at a nice new feature I started back in October 2016. Maybe you can remember Yozakura (1640-1716), the Unknown Haiku Poet? In that month I started his story with an introduction. I will replicate that first episode here.

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Wandering Spirit --- intoraddakkushan (Introduction)

Maybe you can remember me I once was your guest at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai as a ghostwriter. I told you a little bit about my life and my sensei, Matsuo Basho, whom I still miss very much. Master Basho taught me how to write soloku (or as you call it now, haiku) and I am still grateful that he accepted me as one of his disciples. Until that moment my life was a complete disaster.

I was an only child and I lived in Edo (or Kyoto) with my dad. I never had the chance to got to know my mother, because she died as she gave birth to me. My father raised me alone. He was a high ranked samurai and taught me all that I know about going to battle, but also about art and poetry.

When I was about 17 years old my dad passed away in the Great Fire of Meireki, a major city-fire in which Edo was destroyed for more than 60 %. I not only lost my dad, but also all of my family's belongings. After that major disaster I became an outcast and a wanderer under the sun, moon and stars of my beloved Japan.

Of course there is no urge to tell you about me and the life I had, but ... hidden deep inside me there is a kind of longing, a kind of hope, a kind of urge to tell you more about my life and so ... here I am again ... this is the story of my life, Yozakura, the Unknown poet.

Yozakura (1640-1716)

ろーすと・あんど・あろーん・あ・わんだーいんぐ・すぴらっと・びにーす・ざ・さん

roosuto ando aroon a wandaaingu supiratto biniisu za san

lost and alone
a wandering spirit
beneath the sun

© よざくら (Yozakura)

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In our rich history we have seen a lot of Unknown Haiku Poets, but Yozakura was one of a kind. The feuilleton Wandering Spirit is about him and I created (I believe) 12 chapters, but those 12 chapters haven't told the whole story. I hope to write the story further.

The goal for this episode is to create a new haiku or tanka, or other Japanese poetry form, inspired on the Introduction of Wandering Spirit as replicated above.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 24th at 10:00 PM (CEST). Enjoy!
Add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

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