Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #108 Turn Back Time (4) CD Imagination ... Still Life

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

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new (special) weekend meditation episode in which we are turnig time back and look at special features ... that were featured here at CDHK. Maybe you can remember that I introduced our special CD Imagination feature in which I challenged you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on a given image.

I will give you an image for your inspiration, you have to use the given image this time, so please use the given image for your inspiration.

Still Life (image © Dina Belenko)

Let the image inspire you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form. Have a great weekend!

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday October 27th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until November 3rd at noon (CET) I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1718 Bougainvillea (CD Imagination)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in our wonderful CDHK-month "Field Of Flowers", only today I have chosen not a "real" field flower, but a flowering bush called "Bougainvillea". The Bougainvillea is often seen as wall decoration against white walls, mostly in the more southern countries, like for example Spain and Turkey.

Today I love to challenge you to create a Japanese poem inspired on a given image, so you can say this is a CDHK Imagination episode. Ofcourse you can use your own image, but it has to be an image of the Bougainvillea.

Here is the image for your inspiration:

Bougainvillea (image found on Pixabay)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 12th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1626 Kumano Kodo ... Mount Tengurasan ... CD Imagination

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

During lack of time I have made it myself easy. As you all know we are on the Ancient Road or Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage sttaight through the Kii peninsula (Japan). Yesterday we changed our route to one of the other five routes part of the Kumano Kodo. This Iseji trail leads along wonderful bright and beautiful landscapes and one of the most beautiful points on this route is Mount Tengurasan.

For today I have chosen (to make it myself easy) for a CD Imagination episode. The goal is to create new haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on a given image (ofcourse you may use another image by yourself, but it has to be in the same sense and tone as the given image).

Mt. Tengurasan

overwhelming
the brightness and loneliness
high up the mountain
in touch with the blue sky
while listening to the breeze

© Chèvrefeuille

I hope this image will inspire you to create your Japanese poetry.

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

Carpe Diem #1622 Kumano Kodo ... CD Imagination ... Kumano Kodo Waterfall

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

My apologies for being late with publishing our new episode. Today I have chosen the "easy way", because of lack of time, I am on the nightshift, so I have chosen to challenge you with only an image taken somewhere along the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage route.

I have a wonderful image for your inspiration. The image below shows you the Daimonzaka, a 600 meter section of the Kumano Kode leading to Naichi Taisha, the waterfall.

Daimonzaka ... leading to the waterfall

the sound of water
pointing the way to the Pure Land
meeting Basho

© Chèvrefeuille

You will understand why I created the above haiku. It links to Basho's famous haiku "old pond". But why ... meeting Basho? Well legend tells us that a lot of monks (not Basho by the way) jumped into the waterfall at Nachi (part of Kumano Kodo) to enter paradise ... the Pure Land.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until March 14th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new weekend meditation later on. For now ... be inspired.

Carpe Diem #1563 Los Angeles ... city of Angels

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. Today I had a very busy and exciting day ... I had my first working day on my new job at VU Medical Center Amsterdam. I started there after a period of uncertainity at the hospital were I used to work. I enjoyed this first day a lot it felt like a warm blanket ... Several years ago I worked here and now I am back and it felt almost the same. Of course there were new colleagues, but also familiair colleagues that worked there several years ago.

Today I have an CD Imagination episode for you. We have arrived at Los Angeles, the City of Angels. It seems that this is a wonderful city, but as I choose this theme for today I myself thought immediately at God's City of Angels, the New Jerusalem. So I have chosen a wonderful image of the New Jerusalem to inspire you.

It's a modern vision of the New Jerusalem, I couldn't find the artist who made this image.

Modern Vision of the New Jerusalem (artist unknown)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 17th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1263 neighborhood of colors

Dear Haijin, visitors and travellers,

Welcome at a new episode, the last regular, in our month of "imagination without limits ". Today I have a beautiful Italian scene for you. Look at all those colors. This village lays against the mountains as you can see. All the houses have different colors and looks like a rainbow.  Isn't it beautiful? Must be a joy to live 

there.

rainbow
against mountains
joyful life

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode of CD Imagination is Now Open for your submissions and will remain open until October 4th at noon (CET ).  I will try to publish our new weekend-meditation later on. For now. .. have fun!

PS. Now Online our new CDHK prompt-list for October. You can find it above in the menu.

Carpe Diem #1262 courtyard blues

Dear Haijin, vistors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our "Imagination Without Limits" month here at our Haiku Kai. One image says more than Thousand words and that's what we are "proving" here this month. We only have images for our inspiration and sometimes a little bit background.

Today's CD Imagination I have titled "courtyard blues" ... that was the feeling I got as I saw this image for the first time. I found it on Tumblr and it is taken somewhere in the Provence (France). I couldn't retrieve the photographer of this photo so if you are or know the photographer, please let me know.

Courtyard Blues

A short episode today, because I am on the nightshift and therefore don't have enough time to create this episode. That also means today no haiku or tanka by myself.

By the way: I have published our new prompt-list for October 2017, the month in which we will celebrate our fifth anniversary. You can find this new list above in the menu or by clicking HERE.

A preview of our new CD Imagination you can find on our CDHK Tumblr.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight around 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 3rd at noon (CEDT). Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1261 The Pleasure of Reading

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I love to read. Cuddle up on the sofa and reading a book. Of course not only poetry, but also novels. But I also love to "read" books full of art or photos. Just looking at those wonderful photos gives me already the feeling of being there. This is why I created this month, because an image tells us more than thousand words can do. Do you know that feeling? I surely do.

Today's CD Imagination is an example of such feeling. I have found this photo on Tumblr, to be precise on the poetbf tumblr. A wonderful tumblr full of gorgeous photos, images and art-work. This photo had no title, but I thought immediately of the pleasure of reading, so that became the title of this episode "The Pleasure of Reading".

Take your time to look at the image, become one with it, feel it, smell it and so on ...

The Pleasure of Reading

This scene is awesome. Cosy and warm, romantic ... The candles, the view through the window, that open book in which you can see one single rose. And that cup on the right? Is it filled with tea, coffee or something else? Use your imagination, and remember the theme of this month ... Imagination Without Limits ...

Here is my response on this beautiful scene, this beautiful photo. By the way I don't know the name of the photographer, so if you are the photographer or you know who the photographer is? Please let me know.

romance
I cuddle up
reading

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

I am looking forward to all of your wonderful poems ...

This CD Imagination is open for your submissions tonight around 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 2nd at noon (CET). A preview of our new CD Imagination you can find on our CDHK Tumblr. Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1260 Winding Road

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend full of inspiration. I am on the nightshift, so this will become (again) a short episode I think, but ... well we will see.

A while ago I published a special episode about the first prompt of CDHK back in 2012, that episode had a nice logo I think, but I thought I would use the photo (without text) someday as a prompt. Well that's going to happen today. I have "removed" the text and then only the photo stays.

I found that image somewhere on Pinterest and it's title came immediately ... "winding road". Why "winding road"? Well ... as I started with CDHK back in 2012 I was on a winding road, because it was a "step into the dark". I had never created a website as Carpe Diem. I don't have IT knowledge enough to create a website, but ... I was lucky to find "blogger" the webdesigner-tool of Google, an easy to use tool to create a nice website.

Winding Road

I remember that I used an almost similar photo in our first anniversary month (2013). I "traveled back in time" and re-read that episode. It was a kind of "reflection" on the first year of CDHK. I love to share a part of that episode here:

[...] "Since October 2012, as I started with Carpe Diem's daily haiku meme, I am on a journey, 'along the way', so to say. A journey similar with Basho's "Narrow Road to the Deep North". On this journey through the wonderful world of haiku (and other Japanese poetry) I came along different places, all caught in a given prompt. The journey led me to all corners of the world where I met wonderful people ... you all my dear haiku-family members.It's a honor that you all will walk this journey with me. Together we are along the way to a wonderful world in which haiku will bind us together and maybe we will bring a little bit love, light and peace to the world through which we are wandering." [...]

As I was preparing this episode a wellknown song of The Beatles came also in mind. I love to share that song here too, maybe to give you something more to become inspired or just for fun. 

 

A wonderful song I would say, a song that will inspire you a little bit more I think. Just enjoy the music and maybe ... it helps you to create your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

Here is my attempt to create a haiku inspired on this photo (and maybe a little the music):

walking
the winding road
in wonder

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... I like this one (how immodest), but for sure this haiku is a nice one. It fits the scene, my story and the song ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 6:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 1st at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. A preview of our next CD Imagination you can find on our CDHK Tumblr.

Carpe Diem #1259 creating beauty

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize, because I forgot to post the preview of this episode on our Tumblr, but well sometimes that can happen. Today I have a wonderful image for your inspiration. I titled it "creating beauty" and it's a real beauty ... I think in this image you can find "fragile beauty" and "movement" ..

Here is the image for your inspiration:

Creating Beauty

hands
move
reform

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

A (very) short episode this time, because I had a very busy day and I am a bit tired, but of course I cannot leave you without inspiration.

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 "weekend-meditation" later on. For now ... be inspired!

Carpe Diem #1258 daily bread

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This time I don't have a lot of time, so I only will give you our new image for this new episode of "Imagination Without Limits". A whole month full of beautiful images for your inspiration. The image for today I found on Tumblr, but I couldn't retrieve the owner of this image. So if you are the owner or you know the owner, please let me know.

Bakery

Look at this image. This is how I would like to bake my daily bread, but well ... I am a modern guy, with a passion for times gone, I buy my daily bread at supermarket. No nostalgia ... but what a joy it would be to make my own bread in the ancient way.

daily bread
baked on stone
dream on

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... not as strong as I had hoped, but in a way I like the scene painted in this "experimental" haiku.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 26th at noon (CET).

You can find our new CD Imagination preview at our CDHK tumblr. Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1257 Wisteria Blues (Jonathan Reid)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in our "Imagination Without Limits". Today I have a beautiful image to inspire you. It was found on the Tumblr BonitaVista (which means beautiful vistas) and, after a long search on the Internet, I found the photographer who made this beautiful photo at the "Lake Como in Italy", it is titled "Wisteria Blues" (instead of "Wisteria Blossoms", as I had called it). This beautiful photo is made by Jonathan Reid and I hope it will inspire you.

Take your time to connect with the scene, Lake Como Italy, and create your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

Wisteria Blues © Jonathan Reid (flickr)

Look at the Wisteria blossom. Do you see how magical it looks around those lighted windows? And the lake ... seems like a mirror. And all those differences of blue ...

wisteria
blueish waterfall
reflects

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

By the way this "experimental haiku" brought another haiku in mind which I once wrote several years ago:

what a party
writing a renga together -
waterfall of flowers

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you can find your inspiration, awaken your muse and share your Japanese poetyr inspired on "Wisteria Blues" with us all.

A preview of our new CD Imagination you can find on our CDHK Tumblr.

PS. The owner and host of the Facebook page "My Haiku Pond" (Michael Smeer) asked me to share the following announcement with you all:

The 2nd Annual Haiku For Change Event is NOW OPEN for your entries. More about this event you can find HERE. You are invited to participate in this event.

Carpe Diem #1256 Grains of Sand

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. I can honestly say I had. After a very busy week at work I was glad to have the weekend off. However I was busy too in this weekend, because I am preparing our fifth anniversary next month. I hope that this first CDHK lustrum will be awesome. Of course I will try to make it a very festive month and I think I have succeeded.

This month it's all about Imagination Without Limits and for today's CD Imagination I have a wonderful image for you. I have found this image on Tumblr, but I couldn't retrieve the owner of it. So if you are the owner, or you know who the owner is, please let met know.

A Grain of Sand

gone
like sand grains
promises

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

This CD Imagination is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 24th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. You can find a preview at our CDHK Tumblr.

Carpe Diem #1255 City Park

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month it's all about Imagination Without Limits. Through only images we try to create Japanese poetry. And today I have a beautiful image (taken by myself) of the City Park just around the corner of my home.

I remember that I used this image once for a haiga which I published on Wonder Haiku Worlds, I am a long time member of this website and back in 2011 there were 11 haiku/senryu created by me part of a world wide Anthology "Spasms Of Light". Wonder Haiku Worlds is in my opinion a nice website to find several haiku, senryu, tanka and lots of other Japanese poetry forms. For sure worth to visit.

Here is your CD Imagination for today:

City Park (photo by Chèvrefeuille)

As you all know I am busy with a new kind of haiku-ing, experimental haiku so to say. So for this episode of CDHK's CD Imagination I have created the following haiku:

spring wind
reeds tremble
a frog jumps

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

A "wink" towards that famous haiku by Basho, which we have seen here at CDHK very often.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 20th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, a new weekend-meditation, later on today. A preview of our next CD Imagination you can find at our CDHK Tumblr.

Carpe Diem #1254 stairs of nature

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of "Imagination Without Limits", the theme for this month's CDHK. We have had already beautiful images that "triggered" you all to create wonderful poetry. Of course that's the goal and that's the same goal for today's CD Imagination.

This time I have a wonderful image for you which is taken somewhere in Portugal. It's a really nice image and I hope it will inspire you to create (again) nice poems. This image is taken by someone named Jan, but I couldn't retrieve him (or the owner of the photo). So if you are the owner of the photo or you know who the owner is, please let me know.

Stairs of Nature

By the way this photo I found on the Tumblr titled "bonitavista", for sure worth a visit.

stepping
into heaven
incense

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

Maybe you have noticed that I am trying new ways to create haiku, I call it "experimental" haiku. I love to experiment with our beloved haiku ... it triggers me to use a minimum of words to sketch a scene. The above "experiment" looks in my opinion awesome, but what do you think of it?

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 19th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. A preview of the next CD Imagination you can find at our CDHK Tumblr.

Carpe Diem #1253 Thousand Candles

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Wow what an awesome response I have gotten on one of the earlier posts here in which I told you about the start of Carpe Diem back in 2012. It is really awesome to see how many haiku poets have found their way to Carpe Diem. It is really a joy and an ecouragement to go on and create Carpe Diem Haiku Kai for you all.

This month it's all about "Imagination Without Limits", go with the flow, become one with the sphere of the images shared here ... and explore your limits ...

Today I have another beautiful image for you. This one I found on Tumblr's "AvaZenGarden" and I couldn't find the name of the photographer. With this image came a quote by Buddha, which I will share also here, but first the new CD Imagination.

Thousand Candles

And here is the quote by Buddha:

[...] “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases from being shared.” [...]

As I read this quote at "AvaZenGarden" I remembered that I had used this quote earlier here at CDHK (back in 2014) and immediately there came a few haiku in mind which fits this image like a glove.

First one by Ese, one of our steady visitors and great haiku poetess:

silent steps -
one more candle illuminates
the old chapel

© Ese

And another haiku which reached out to me while preparing this episode was a renown haiku by Yosa Buson, one of the five greatest haiku poets ever:

Lighting one candle
with another candle--
spring evening

© Buson

 

In that episode to which I am referring above I shared the following haiku with you all:

shadows on the wall
one single candle shines its light
towards the world

© Chèvrefeuille

Well all beauties if I may say so, but of course I have to create a new haiku inspired on this image trying to find my limits. Recently I started experimenting with another kind of haiku-creations, so I have tried that again inspired on this image, here is a new "experimental" haiku:

light
spread
around

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

I hope you did like this new CD Imagination episode and I am looking forward to all your responses on this CD Imagination.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 18th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new CD Imagination later on. You can find a preview already at our CDHK Tumblr. Have fun!

 

Carpe Diem #1251 Bluebells at sunset (by Inguna Plume)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to create a new episode of CD Imagination for you. I love how this month goes already. All of your beautiful work ... I am so proud to be your host. It makes me humble "who am I to deserve this"... I don't know, but it's almost my second job next to my work as an oncology nurse to host Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... and I thank you all for the honor you all give me by participating in CDHK.

Thank you

Today I had a very busy day on the unit were we give our chemo ... we had 12 patients and it was really a though day, but we had also wonderful conversations and there was laughter ... Sometimes I feel proud that I can and may be part of the journey of our patients. They are all very strong people and they are all very realistic, but they all go for it ...

Okay ... back to our episode of today, maybe you have already seen the preview of today's image at our CDHK Tumblr, and if not ... no problem ... here it is:

This photo is titled "bluebells at sunset" and it's taken by Inguna Plume, visit her account at 500px.com by clicking on the caption beneath the image.

Bluebells at sunset by Inguna Plume

fragile
bluebells
fainting 

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 13th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new "weekend-meditation" later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1250 Autumn Colors

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Isn't it amazing? This is our 1250th regular CDHK prompt. I never had dreamed that it would be this big, but I enjoy it a lot and I hope you all enjoy CDHK. This month I challenge you all to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on an image. As we say "An image says more than 1000 words", and that's so true. Haiku is like an image, but with a lesser count of words ...
This month we are exploring the limits of our imagination.
As I look at the posts responses of the last two days I am glad that I created this month. It's really awesome to see how much differences I read in all of your poems inspired on the images I have shared. Isn't that a wonder? One image triggers so much different ideas and scenes ... awesome.

Today I have another beautiful image from Tumblr, this time I know who was the photographer of it. Today I love to ask you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on a photo by Kyle Bonallo, a great photographer. I love visiting his Tumblr that has his name Kyle Bonallo, visit him HERE.

On the Northern Hemisphere we are running towards autumn, my favorite season, I love how Mother Earth is changing into an ocean of colors, and that fresh smell of autumn ... wonderful.

Autumn Colors by Kyle Bonallo

hidden
between
colors

© Chèvrefeuille (experimental haiku)

Look at this photo ... become one with it, experience it ... this is Autumn.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 12th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new CD Imagination later on. You can find a preview of tomorrow's CD Imagination at our Tumblr.

Carpe Diem #1248 ending road

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to start a new month of CDHK. After our "modern art" month I have another beautiful month for you I think. Maybe you can remember our special feature in which I challenged you to create haiku (or tanka) inspired on an image, or a photo, that special feature was titled "Carpe Diem Imagination". This month, while we are on our way to our fifth anniversary (next October), I love to challenge you to create haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form, inspired on an image I have chosen. Of course I love to read poems inspired on the given image, but I know that several of you don't love the idea to use images from others for their inspiration, and ... well if you have trouble with the use of the images I share than you may use images made by yourself. If you use an image made by yourself than please share a little background on your image if possible.

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. I had for sure a great weekend. Well let's take of with our first prompt of this month themed "Imagination Without Limits". Here is the first image which I love to share here. It was found on Tumblr, but I couldn't retrive the actual owner of the rights, so if you are or know the one who took the photo, please let me know.

What do we see? I see water and something that looks like a bridge or something. The bridge is broken and the path is ending ... there is no way of passing through ... or you have to have a boat or have to swim.

wet feet
broken bridge
ends my path

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I am looking forward to your responses and I hope to read gorgeous haiku ... no need to follow the classical rules, but if you want to ... feel free.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 10th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on.
By the way you can find the theme for this month above in the menu, but you will not find a prompt-list, because I decide every day this month which image I am going to use.