Carpe Diem #594, Movement (August 2014) reprise

!! I publish this episode earlier than normally done, because I am in the nightshift !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Here it is our very last episode of our 2nd anniversary month October 2014, Movement. This prompt is from August 2014 and in that month we explored "Sand and Foam" by Khalil Gibran. Movement was one of the first prompts based on that little book by Gibran.

I remember that it was a wonderful month and that you were all very inspired to write haiku in response on the quotes by Khalil Gibran. It even brought me the idea to do that once again, but than with other famous' peoples quotes. I think it will be a great idea to do that again in December 2014.

Movement ... what is it? What does it? What has movement to do with haiku or with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai? Well ... let me tell you ... Carpe Diem is fully in motion, because we are growing still greater and we all learn more about haiku .... so our haiku are in  motion too ... movement I think.

Credits: Movement

And I have found a nice haiku written by myself several years ago. It has to do with movement and dancing.

ankle chimes
listen to the movement
of the young dancer

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until November 2nd at noon (CET). I will publish our first episode of November, Bush Clover, later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.
!! Our new promptlist is ready you can find it HERE !!

Carpe Diem #593, "A Departed Soul" (July 2014) reprise

!! This episode I publish earlier than I normally do, because I am in the nightshift !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We have to visit the last few months these days and than this celebration of our second anniversary is over. Than we can look back at a wonderful month full of reprise prompts from the start of Carpe Diem until now ...
As we are on a journey along memory lane we have arrived now at July 2014, in this month we had all CD-Specials because we had all haiku by the big five, Basho, Chiyo-Ni, Buson, Issa and Shiki. It was a tough month for me to prepare all those episode with haiku by the big five, but it was really a joy to that for you all ... my haiku-family-members of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. Thanks to you all Carpe Diem Haiku Kai has become what it is right now ... a gathering of haiku-poets and haiku-poetesses ... a family ...

"A Departed Soul" refers to the haiku by Shiki which he wrote on his death-bed and which is seen as his death-poem or Jisei. In that episode, published on July 28th, Shiki was the one of the "big five" whom delivered the haiku for your inspiration. Here is that haiku again:

sponge gourd has bloomed
choked by phlegm
a departed soul

© Shiki

Credits: Sponge Gourd

A nicely written "death-poem" very nicely done ... I think Shiki has written the most beautiful death poem of all the "big five". Here are the deathpoems by Basho and Chiyo-Ni:

ill on a journey
my dreams start to wander
across desiccated fields

© Basho

having gazed at the moon
I depart from this life
with a blessing

© Chiyo-Ni

And ... what would be my death-poem, my Jisei? Maybe it could be this one ... it's a haiku in which the shortness of life is portraited through a comparison with dew ...

morning dew
evaporates in the early sunlight -
spirit climbs to the sky

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you did like this episode and I hope it will inspire you to write an all new haiku ... This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until November 1st at noon (CET). I will publish our next episode, Movement (August 2014), later on.

Carpe Diem #592, Nights of Summer (June 2014) reprise)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As we are closing in to the end of this celebration month we are now arrived at June 2014 in which we had all modern kigo for summer based on Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku". This month I think you will remember still, because of the kigo by Jane. And of course we have seen her several times here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai as a co-host for our "Ask Jane" feature.

Today's reprise prompt is Nights of Summer and I think you all can relate to that. In my opinion the warm summer nights are awesome, romantic and sensual. Lying on the beach with the one you love, making love maybe on the beach. The sound of seaguls in your ears, the waves, the far away sound of music from the pubs ... the rustling of the palm trees ... ah ... what a gorgeous scene. I love to re-share my haiku from that episode here again.

hot summer night
together with my friends -
singing on the beach

hot summer night
the sweet scent of Honeysuckle
arouses the sense

the sound of the waves

accompanies hot steamy love -
seagulls cry

© Chèvrefeuille

What a nice memory ... This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 30th at noon (CET). I will post our next episode, a new Ghost Writer post, later on.

Carpe Diem #591, Helpful (May 2014) reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Let us go on with our journey along memory-lane and see were we are now. Today we have arrived at May 2014 in which we had all prompts about Myth, Legend and Saga. This was the last prompt of May and it was a Folktale which I wrote myself about a Mongolian Shaman. It was really fun to write that folktale and I think you all enjoyed it. You can find that episode HERE.

Our Logo of May 2014, Atlantis

The above folktale was about Maidar, an apprentice of a Mongolian Shaman and I love to share the last paragraph of that folktale here again with the haiku I wrote back in May 2014.

[...] Maidar became a great shaman, even better than his beloved master Batbayar, and returned every year to the mountains to the place were he had lost his master to talk with the Eagle. [...]

whispering leaves
telling all wisdom of the steppes -
cry of an eagle

© Chèvrefeuille

I hope you liked this reprise episode and of course I hope you did read the story again and that it inspired you to write an all new haiku.

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 29th at noon (CET). I will publish our next episode, Nights of Summer (June 2014), later on. For now have fun!
!! Our new CD "Time Glass" episode this Monday is almost there !!

Carpe Diem #590, Kite (April 2014) Reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We are closing in to the end of this festive month in which we celebrate our second anniversary of our Haiku Kai. And today we have arrived at April 2014 ... In this month I introduced Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku" to you all in which Jane has made a compilation of "modern kigo (seasonwords)" ... It was a joy to use her "saijiki" and it brought wonderful haiku.
Today our reprise-episode is "Kite" and it was a nice prompt to write about. China and Japan have an enormous history with kites and kites are still one of the most seen activities around the globe. For this episode I have chosen for a modern version of kite-playing as you will see in my haiku.

In the last, say, 3 or 4 decades, kite surfing has become very popular. Here in my home-place, close to a big lake, kite surfing is one of the most done activities. My home -place is almost surrounded by water and so here we see many ways of sporting in, on and above water. Really awesome to see how e.g. these kite-surfers are busy with their sport. It brought me the next haiku:

kite surfing
along the shores of the lake -
feeling free ... at last

© Chèvrefeuille

Credits: Kite Surfen around my home town (Dutch website) © Pé Koomen

It's really a fantastic sight to see these kite surfers.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 28th at noon (CET). I will (try to) post our next episode, Helpful (May 2014), later on. For now have fun!

Carpe Diem #589, Zentsu-ji (February & March 2014) reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Yesterday I told you about our journey straight through the former USSR and at the end of that journey we took the airplane to Japan, to finally arrive at Shikoku Island were we took part in the pilgrimage along the 88 temples. 
Today we are re-visiting the Zentsu-ji temple in Zentsu-ji Kagawa Prefecture. This temple is built in the early 9th century and is built in the birth place of Kobo Daishi. This temple was built by his father, Zentsu Saeki.

Zentsu-ji (temple 75)

The Shikoku trail is based on the life and actions by Kobo Daishi (or Kukai) and is established in honor of him. This Shikoku Pilgrimage is for Buddhists, what the Hajj is for the muslim. It's a once in a life-time to do pilgrimage for the Buddhists.
We followed this trail of Kobe Daishi for two months (February and March 2014) and it was a very uplifting and inspirational pilgrimage. We met other O-Henro (the name for the Shikoku pilgrims) and learned at lot about Buddhism and ourselves.

in deep silence

monks cleaning up their garden -
willow leaves fall

(c) Chèvrefeuille

It was really a joy to do this Shikoku Pilgrimage together with you and I recall that we also followed the Road to Santiago de Compostela by following Paulo Coelho in is novel "The Pilgrimage". As I look back to the last two years I only can say "we have seen and learned a lot". (By the way ... I am behind with commenting. I 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 October 27th at noon (CET). I will publish our next episode, Kite (April 2014), later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #588, Vladivostok (January 2014) reprise

Dear haijin, visitors and travelers,

Maybe you have already read the CD-Extra earlier today, but if not ... than I have an announcement to make. As I told your earlier this month, Jane reichhold has granted me the exclusive rights for two of her E-Books, and I succeeded today to make them available here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. You can find the E-Books by Jane on the left and right side of the posts. I also have made an E-Book by myself available. The E-Book by myself is a compilation of all the episodes of our Tarot-month May 2013. I hope you like these E-Books and I hope it will give you pleasure to read them.

Ok ... back to today's episode. Today we are going further on our memory lane along the first two years of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. We have now arrived in January 2014. In that month we started with our pilgrimage to the Isle of Shikoku to visit all 88 temples there. To get there we took the Trans Siberian Railroad (TSR) straight through the former USSR in January 2014. While we were on our way to Vladivostok, the end station of the TSR, we read "Aleph" a novel written by Paulo Coelho in which he describes his search to his former lives. "Aleph" is situated on the TSR and so we went on reading "Aleph" following the story-line and traveling straight through the former USSR.
I remember that it was a wonderful month and that I have read wonderful haiku, tanka and haibun. In that month Alexey Andreyev (a Russian haiku poet who lives in the USA) was our featured haiku poet. I love to share the last CD-Special haiku of January 2014, here again.

morning awakenings:
among window curtains' flowers
a blade of gray sky

© Alexey Andreyev

Our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Logo for January 2014, a picture of the TSR along Lake Baikal

As I told you above, the TSR drives straight through the former USSR from Moscow to Vladivostok. So this reprise-episode is about the end station of the TSR Vladivostok. Vladivostok was closed for foreigners until the end of the "Cold War" and in 2012, after a major International Event, it became one of the bigger cities of Russia.

I ended that episode, back in January 2014, with the following quote from Paulo Coelho's "Aleph":

As they arrive almost in Vladivostok, Paulo decides to make a walk through the Trans Siberian Express, which he sees as a city. He walks through that city,which stretched out like an ever-flowing river of steel, a city were he doesn't speak the local language. He heard all kinds of languages and sounds and notices that, as happens in all large cities, most people weren't talking to anyone, each passenger absorbed in his or her own problems and dreams, forced to share the smae compartment with three strangers, people they never will meet again. The Trans Siberian Express, is really a city ... and as in a normal city we live together with our neighbors, but ... do you know your neighbors really? 

After his walk through the train he writes a note, which I love to share here with you.

[...]I am not a foreigner because I haven't been praying to return safely home, I haven't wasted my time imagining my house, my desk, my side of the bed, I am not a foreigner because we are all travelling, we are all full of the same questions, the same tiredness, the same fears, the same
selfishness and the same generosity. I am not a foreigner because, when I asked, I received. When I knocked, the door opened. When I looked, I found. [...] (Source:'Aleph' by Paulo Coelho)

And I wrote to conclude that episode::

With this quote by Paulo Coelho I will conclude our Trans Siberian Railroad journey. Dreams you have ... you have to fullfill, they are not negotiable. So ... go for your dream and let that dream come true.

another day ends
reaching for the stars and the moon
into the dreamworld

(c) Chèvrefeuille

Credits: The Future Is Full Of Dreams

As I started with Carpe Diem I had a dream ... to be here after a half year. Now we are celebrating our second anniversary and we have become a great family of haiku poets ... Thank you all for making my dream come true ... 

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 26th at noon (CET). I will publish our new episode, Zentsu-ji (February and March 2014),later on. For now have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at our Haiku Kai.

Carpe Diem #587, Sacred Earth (December 2013) reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We are past halfway of our anniversary month and we have arrived now by our next stop in our memory lane, Sacred Earth, which I published in December 2013. It was a inspirational music prompt with the music of Adrian von Ziegler. I have met him and he is a great musician and composer. His music is divers and beautiful.
I will share this musical piece, Sacred Earth, here again with you all.

It's a wonderful piece of music I think and it inspired me to write the following haiku:

Mother Earth blossoms
while I dream of unknown paths -
the scent of roses

© Chèvrefeuille

This was the haiku which I wrote in December 2013 and I haven't written (yet) a new one, because of lack of time. Maybe I will be inspired later on.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 23rd at noon (CET). I will publish our next post, the Ghost Writer post by Garry Gay, later on.

Carpe Diem #586, River Stones (November 2013) reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As we are going further on our memory lane along all the months of the last two years we have now arrived at November 2013. In that month we had all Tan Renga Challenges for prompt. It was a very busy month for me, but I enjoyed it a lot.
The episode to which this prompt for today refers was published on November 4th 2013 and it was a haiku written by Becca Givens to which we had to write a second stanza to complete the Tan Renga.

Logo Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Month November 2013

Here is my attempt than to make it into a Tan Renga:

river stones
caressed by flowing water
pale moon shines                                        (Becca Givens)

the sound of a waterfall
makes the night more silent                        (Chèvrefeuille)

As I look back at that month I feel overwhelmed by pride and happiness, because contributors than are still contributors now ... so I think we really have become a family of haiku poets. At least I am feeling that we are a family.

For this episode you may choose if you write/compose a new haiku in response of the prompt "river stones" or to write a second stanza (again) towards the haiku by Becca. I have chosen to write another second stanza towards the haiku ... and here it is:

river stones
caressed by flowing water
pale moon shines                                                        (Becca Givens)

behind a thin veil of clouds
she, the one I love, smiles at me                                (Chèvrefeuille)

Well ... it's a joy to make CDHK for you all and I thank you all for being part of this haiku family.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 22nd at noon (CET). I will publish our new episode, Sacred Earth (December 2013), later on. For now ... have fun!
!! Tomorrow I will publish a new Carpe Diem Time Glass episode too, in which you have to write a haiku within 12 hours !!

Carpe Diem #585, The Lighthouse of Alexandria (October 2013) reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Maybe you can recall our journey along the seven ancient world wonders which we performed in our first anniversary month October 2013. It was an idea by Hamish Gunn and in our first anniversary month we visited all the world wonders. I remember that it wasn't easy to compose haiku inspired on those world wonders, but there were very beautiful haiku to read.

We are on memory lane along the months of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai as a celebration of our second anniversary and I love to read those "old" episodes and I am glad to see that you all like it too.

Here is one of the haiku which I composed in response on "The Lighthouse of Alexandria":

stormy nights
entering the harbor save
led by the Lighthouse

© Chèvrefeuille

And this was our anniversary logo back in October 2013:

This first anniversary month we had wonderful haiku written by Garry Gay, our featured haiku poet that month, and I am happy to announce that Garry Gay will be our next Ghost Writer (October 22nd). Garry Gay was born in Glendale, California in 1951. He received a BPA degree from Brooks Institute of Photography in 1974 and has been a professional photographer since his graduation. He is skilled in all formats and has been creating digital images since 1993. His award winning Polaroid Transfers have hung in numerous juried art shows. He is a proud member of Advertising Photographers of America, Film Arts Foundation, Friends of Photography, Artrails, and the Cultural Arts Council of Sonoma County. 

Greatly influenced by Basho's Narrow Road to the Deep North, he has steadily been writing haiku from 1975 to the present. He is one of the co-founders of the Haiku Poets of Northern California, serving as their first president from 1989-1990. In 1991 he was elected president of the Haiku Society of America.

Garry Gay

Garry is also the inventor of the Rengay, a modern version of the Renga. I am glad that he will be our one time Ghost Writer and I am honored that he will do that for us.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 21st at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, river stones (November 2013), later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at our Haiku Kai.

Carpe Diem #584, Amanogawa (The Milky Way) September 2013 reprise

!! This episode will be published earlier, because of the nightshift !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Come on ... ! Let us go on along memory lane ... today we have arrived at September 2013. That month we had all classical kigo for autumn and the specials were by Mabson O Southard. It was really a challenging month than and I enjoyed all those wonderful responses.
The episode which is in the reprise today is Amanogawa (The Milky Way) and I recall that I wrote about the Mayan Mythology and their ideas about The Milky Way. You can find that episode HERE.

Logo Carpe Diem Haiku Kai September 2013

For today's episode I have found a few haiku written by haiku-poets (both classical and non-classical) with The Milky Way as theme.

For example this one by Basho (a very well known haiku):

ura umi ya sado ni yokotau ama no gawa

Turbulent the sea—
across to Sado stretches
the Milky Way

© Basho

Or this one by Jim Kacian traditional written as a one-line haiku:

beneath the Milky Way an evening soft with moths

And I found a haiku by Seisensui (a contemporary and disciple of Shiki) who composed the next haiku with the Milky Way theme:

the Milky Way too
has become intense
we said and parted

© Seisensui 

Credits: Milky Way

Or this one written by your host:

the path of heaven
lighted by thousands of stars -
Amanogawa

© Chèvrefeuille

Or another one also composed by me:

the shining stars
of the Milky Way
looking like pearls

© Chèvrefeuille

 Well ... all wonderful haiku I think and I hope that it will inspire you to write a haiku yourself with The Milky Way in the lead ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 20th at noon (CET). I will try to post our new episode, The Lighthouse of Alexandria (October 2013), later on.

Carpe Diem #583, Magic Fields (August 2013) reprise

!! I am in the nightshift, so I post this new episode already this early. !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's my pleasure to present our new episode of Carpe Diem to you. We are on a trip along memory lane and today we have arrived in August 2013. That month I introduced Karunesh to you all, a New Age/World Fusion musician. Karunesh has composed wonderful pieces of music and in August 2013 it was really a joy to have him as the one who delivered us all our prompts. So August 2013 was a month full of inspirational music.

"Magic Fields" was the title of the composition which I shared on August 20th 2013 and I love to share that piece of music here again:

Isn't it wonderful ... and so inspirational ...

magic is in the air
the sweet perfume of autumn
brings ecstasy

© Chèvrefeuille

I love the music of Karunesh ... it's really relaxing. I listen always to his music as I am in the nightshift and have to sleep during the day.
Well ... I hope this music will inspire you all to write an all new haiku (or share the haiku which you wrote than again here). Have fun!

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 18th at noon (CET). I will (try to) post our next episode, another nice haiku by Shiba Sonome, our featured haiku-poetess, later on.

Carpe Diem #582, Inner Beauty (July 2013)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a wonderful month we have 'til now. And I think it will become even more beautiful and wonderful. We are almost halfway and tomorrow I will start with the judging of the Sea Shell Game 2014. I will tell you how I am gonna do that. I will first give all the contributed haiku a number, than I will shake them all and split them up into two groups. I will pick two haiku and will read them again and again to see if the haiku fits the following the classical rules (excluding the 5-7-5 count), so is there e.g a kigo, a kireji (cutting-word) or e.g a deeper layer.

Because I only will see numbered haiku I don't know whom the haiku has written. I choose of every two haiku the "best" and they will go into another group. After I have run the whole bunch of haiku I will start again with reading and judging. After a few rounds there will be a haiku who, in my opinion, fits in the above mentioned rules. That will be our winner. It's just the honor of being the winner which you get and no prize or something. Maybe I will create a haiga from your winning haiku.
I hope you all understand how the Sea Shell Game will come to have a winner.

Ok ... back to our prompt for today. Today we are going further along memory-lane and we have arrived at July 2013 in which all prompts were extracted from the novel "Manuscript found in Accra" by Paulo Coelho. It's a nice novel somewhat similar with "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran.
I remember that it was a nice month and that we had haiku written by Jane Reichhold for the Carpe Diem Specials ... it was a few months after my first contact with Jane and as you all know ... Jane is now the host of our Special feature "Ask Jane ...

This was our CDHK-logo that month taken from the cover of "Manuscript found in Accra"

It was a nice month, but there were several prompts which weren't easy to write haiku about. Hereafter I will give the haiku set which I composed for this episode back in July 2013:

smiling geisha
hides her beauty behind a fan
and her white face

her white face
the rule for her class of beauty -
no Inner Beauty

© Chèvrefeuille

In my opinion both are beautiful, but I also remember that it wasn't easy to write this set of haiku. As I wrote that haiku-set I thought at the movie "memoires of a geisha". Inner Beauty ... to me more important than the outer beauty, but for sure there will be other thoughts about that.

Now it is up to you my dear Haijin, visitors and travelers to write an all new haiku (or if you were a member than back in 2013, you may also share your haiku which you created for this same prompt in July 2013). 

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and it will remain open until October 16th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, a new GW-post, later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.

Don't forget ... tonight at 7.00 (CET) I also will publish our new Time Glass episode.

Carpe Diem #581, Hanabi (Fireworks) June 2013 reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Our trip along memory-lane is continuing with a classical kigo for summer, Hanabi, which means "fireworks". In June 2013 all our prompts were classical kigo (seasonwords) for summer as used by the classical haiku-poets. It's always fun to do research for those classical kigo and than I am so glad we have Internet.

This is a song by Minnie Riperton "down back memory lane" and I like this song ... it fits our second anniversary month so well. (I first had another video, but that turned out to be a commercial so I deleted it)

As you maybe know Japan is a country were they love to celebrate a lot ... through the year there are at least 100.000 festivals to celebrate and almost every festival has its own Hanabi (Fireworks). It was really a joy to do the research for this episode back in 2013 and it brought me a lot of fun. You can find that episode HERE ...

We celebrate our second anniversary this month and believe me Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is at itself all Fireworks. It's great to be your host and I am glad that you all like CDHK as much as I do making it. Thank you all for being a family-member of Carpe Diem Haiku Family. Without your inspiration I couldn't make CDHK.

Thank You

against the dark sky
colorful flowers and suns -
another festival

© Chèvrefeuille

And now it's up to you to compose an all new haiku. Have fun!

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 15th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, Inner Beauty (July 2013), later on. !! Tomorrow we will have our Time Glass Challenge ... !!

Carpe Diem #580, The Wheel of Fortune (May 2013) reprise

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We have arrived at our next "stop" along memory lane Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. We are now in May 2013. In that month we had all prompts related to Tarot and the "Great Arcana". That month we explored the Great Arcana of the Tarot and tried to link it to Christianity, because of the history of the Tarot. The Tarot once was created as a kind of Bible for the people who couldn't buy a Bible.
Through the years the Tarot became involved in the occult world and that did me decide to try to bring back the Tarot to it's Christian meaning and that's what we did in May 2013. The "reprise prompt" for today is The Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel of Fortune is card X of the Great Arcana. You can find that episode HERE.

The logo of May 2013

This Carpe Diem Month was a great success and I compiled all the articles about the various cards of the Great Arcana to one article and re-formed it into a little book. One of the haiku which I wrote in this "The Wheel of Fortune" episode was the following:

caught in Fortune's Wheel
the Sacred Name of God the Father -
Yahweh

© Chèvrefeuille

Well it was really a joy to have "The Wheel of Fortune" in our "reprise" month for our second anniversary. To close this episode I will share "The Wheel of Fortune"card.

The Wheel of Fortune (X) - card from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the original Tarot deck.

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 14th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, Hanabi or Fireworks (June 2013), later on. For now have fun ... let the history of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai be your inspiration.

Carpe Diem #579, Aquarius (April 2013)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Did you read that wonderful article by Jane in today's "Ask Jane ..." episode? Finally I can say what I always thought, "senryu is an artificial haiku". Jane's article made that very clear.
Today we are going on along memory lane and we have reached April 2013. That month was a very festive month, because of two things: first in that month I became 50 and I celebrated that I 25 years ago started with haiku composing.
April was a very special month and I had two weeks in which all the prompts were signs from the Zodiac and today we have the 11th sign of the Zodiac, Aquarius (The Waterbearer), for prompt. It was a great episode than and I hope it will become even better this time. You can find that post HERE and I hope that it will inspire you all to write haiku.

this was the special logo for the Zodiac days, this is especially for Aquarius as you can see (11) 

We are now in the era of Aquarius and that era stands for Spiritual Growth and I hope that that Spirtual Growth will help to bring peace to the world.

sound of falling water
resonates through the thin spring air -
melting ice

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 12th at noon (CET). I will post our next episode, the second haiku by our featured haiku poetess Shabi Sonome, later on. I love to share this video "Aquarius" to close this episode.

Carpe Diem #578, Hatsu Hana (March 2013)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I love to thank you all for being a part of our Carpe Diem Haiku Family and second I thank you all for your kind words in the comments of the GW-post on all the Special features. They will help to decide "How to go on" with the special features ... I will give it a thought. Than I have a last thing to bring under your attention. As you all know we have the Sea Shell Game running and if you like to participate in that Sea Shell Game you can submit your haiku until October 15th at noon. After that it is no longer possible to submit haiku for the Sea Shell Game, because I will start with the judging of the submitted haiku. If you love to share a haiku for the Sea Shell Game (and you don't have done it already) than please email your haiku before October 15th to:

carpediemseashellgame2014@gmail.com

Ok ... back to our epsiode. We are on a journey along memory-lane and today we have a prompt from March 2013, Hatsu Hana (The First Cherry Blossom), it's a classical kigo (seasonword) for spring and in March 2013 we had all prompts based on classical kigo for spring. I will give you a little excerpt of that episode here:

[...] Those little fragile first cherry blossom ... every Spring again it's a joy to see that those bare branches of the Cherry Tree are becoming a sea of flowers. It's really a feast. [...]

First Cherry Blossom

bare Cherry branches
covered with powder snow -
the first blossom

the first blossom
worthy to have a party
blooming cherry tree

blooming cherry tree
finally King Winter departs
longing for Summer

You can find the whole episode HERE.

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until October 11th at noon. I will try to post our next episode, Aquarius (April 2013), later on. For now ... just have fun!

Carpe Diem #577, Castle (February 2013)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We will go on with our "memory-lane" anniversary month along the historical pathways of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (at the start known as "Carpe Diem") and today we have arrived in February 2013. This episode "Castle" I published on February 22nd 2013 and as I can recall the first thing which came in mind was the TV-Series Castle which here in The Netherlands is big success on one of our commercial TV-channels.

This was one of the haiku I shared in that episode, however in a little different form, if you would like to look back to that episode ... than you can click HERE.

hidden in the mountains

the ivory tower of an anchoret,
... a cave

© Chèvrefeuille

Carpe Diem Logo February 2013

Well ... I hope are inspired and will compose wonderful haiku and share them with us all. Have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 9th at noon (CET). I will publish our next episode, our second GW-post of this anniversary month, later on.