Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #53, Soliloquy no Renga "Ah! Those Cherry Blossoms"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another week has gone and it's time (again) for a new Tokubetsudesu episode in which I will bring the so called "Soliloquy no Renga" again for your inspiration. (You can find more about the Soliloquy no Renga HERE).

As you all know haiku came from 'hokku' the opening verse of a Renga or chained verse ... Renga was a collaborative kind of poetry in which several poets were participating. Basho, one of the four greatest haiku-poets (next to Buson, Issa and Shiki) transformed the 'hokku' into a poetry-form on itselves, the haiku ...I love to bring you back to the roots of our beloved haiku and created what I will call 'Soliloquy no Renga', a Renga written by one poet. Soliloquy means monologue and is a synonym for it.

Logo of Soliloquy no Renga

The goal of this feature is to write a Soliloquy no Renga, a Renga composed by one person. With this feature it is possible to help you to be more associative, because you have to compose an all new renga with at least six (6) links.As you all know a renga has stanzas of three and two lines. The first verse "hokku" gives the title to the renga and sets the entire image of your renga. By association on the verse before the verse you have to write you can make the renga a complete story. The Soliloquy no Renga is just for fun and I hope it will bring you the fun and inspiration as I had in mind. You can choose on your own how much links you use, but at least (as I said above) six (6) links. The last link has to make the "circle complete" and in that way has a link with the first verse. That last verse is called "ageku".

For this Soliloquy no Renga I have chosen a haiku written by myself in January 2015, so it's a very recent haiku to work with. This haiku is the "hokku" (starting verse) of this Soliloquy no Renga.

Credits: Woodblock print "Sakura" by Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950)

Hokku:

Ah! those cherry blossoms
their beauty amazes me again -
finally spring is here

© Chèvrefeuille

The following stanza have two lines, three lines, two lines and so on. You can make the Soliloquy no Renga as long as you would like, but it has to have at least six (6) stanza.

I am looking forward to all of your responses ... have fun!

This Tokubetsudesu episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until July 24th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, Kuchinashi (Jasmine), later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Special #126, Sogi's "Butterfly home"

!! I publish this post a bit earlier, because I am in the nightshift !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month's featured haiku-poet is Iio Sogi (1424-1502), a pre-Basho haiku-poet and he was, as Basho, a wellknown Renga-Master. The most preserved haiku by Sogi are "hokku" which were part of Renga (chained poem). Today I have our second haiku by Sogi for you. I have translated it myself to make it a bit more compact. Here it is:

abandoned house
the garden taken over -
butterfly home

© Iio Sogi (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

Isn't it a beautiful haiku? I can see this in front of my eyes and the scene makes me smile ... such fragile beauty, but that fragile beauty is that strong to over take an abandoned house. Awesome. It's a nice kind of juxtaposition which we can read in this one butterfly/house  fragility/strongness and that brings me to the task of this CD Special:

Write a haiku in the same sense, tone and spirit as the one by Sogi and try to bring a juxtaposition into it. Or ... and that's an easier task I think ... you can use the haiku by Sogi as the "hokku" (starting verse) of a Soliloquy No Renga (a renga poem written by one poet) of a maximum of eight (8) stanza. If you choose for the Soliloquy than please try to "close" the chain with using an "ageku" (closing verse which associates on the "hokku").

I have tried to write a haiku in which the first task is used ... here it is:

broken windows
after the bombing - spiders spinning
their cobwebs

© Chèvrefeuille

Do you see/read the juxtaposition in this haiku? I think I succeeded in this task, but that's not up to me to say ... that's up to you my dear Haijin.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 11th at noon (CET). Have fun! I will post our next episode, First Market (Hatsuchi), later on.

Carpe Diem Special #123, Richard Wright's 4th "the scarecrow's old hat"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to create another CD Special with a haiku by our featured haiku poet this month, Richard Wright. It's his 4th haiku this month and I have read great haiku and tanka in response on his other haiku. This time I also love to challenge you a little bit.
Maybe you can remember our special feature "Soliloquy no Renga" in which I asked you to write a solo-renga with a maximum of 12 stanzas. I love to challenge you to write a Soliloquy no Renga with the haiku by Richard Wright as the "hokku" or "starting verse". (You can find the explanation of "Soliloquy no Renga" HERE)

Here is the haiku written by Richard Wright for your inspiration and to start the Soliloquy no Renga with:

The scarecrow's old hat

Was flung by the winter wind
Into a graveyard.

© Richard Wright

An extraordinary haiku I think. There are so much scenes to distill from this one and I hope you all will be inspired. Have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 24th at noon (CET). I will try to post our new episode, frost, later on. Of course there will also be a Christmas Countdown episode today!

Carpe Diem Soliloquy No Renga (an introduction), "purple shadow"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I have a new challenging feature for you all ... (thank you Jen). As you all know haiku came from 'hokku' the opening verse of a Renga or chained verse ... Renga was a collaborative kind of poetry in which several poets were participating. Basho, one of the four greatest haiku-poets (next to Buson, Issa and Shiki) transformed the 'hokku' into a poetry-form on itselves, the haiku ...
I love to bring you back to the roots of our beloved haiku and created what I will call 'Soliloquy No Renga', a Renga written by one poet. Soliloquy means monologue and is a synonym for it.

The goal of this new feature is to write a Soliloquy No Renga, a Renga composed by one person. With this new feature it is possible to help you to be more associative, because you have to compose an all new renga with at least six (6) links.
As you all know a renga has stanzas of three and two lines. The first verse "hokku" gives the title to the renga and sets the entire image of your renga. By association on the verse before the verse you have to write you can make the renga a complete story.
This new feature is just for fun and I hope it will bring you the fun and inspiration as I had in mind. You can choose on your own how much links you use, but at least (as I said above) six (6) links. The last link has to make the "circle complete" and in that way has a link with the first verse. That last verse is called "ageku".

I will give you the "hokku" for the Soliloquy No Renga and than it's up to you. That "hokku" can be a haiku by a classic or modern haiku-poet.
As you all know this month we have all wonderful haiku by Jane Reichhold based on her saijiki "A Dictionary of Haiku", so to honor her I have chosen a nice autumn haiku composed by Jane as the starting verse of this first episode of Carpe Diem "Soliloquy No Renga". So our first "hokku" ever for this new feature is the following haiku:

blue autumn skies

folded into mountains
purple shadow

© Jane Reichhold

So you have to start with this opening-verse or "hokku" and in your closing-verse or "ageku" there has to be a link or association back to this "hokku". Why? Well ... it's because of aesthetic reasons ... by linking or associating from the "ageku" to the "hokku" you make the "circle" complete.

Here is my first "Soliloquy No Renga" (a 10-stanza renga):

PURPLE SHADOW

hokku:

the autumn skies
folded into the mountains
purple shadow

fresh breeze brings new sounds

I have never heard earlier

nightingale sings-
a serenade for, her, the moon
hidden behind clouds

leaves, colorful and bright

fall one by one as was planned

after the rainstorm
reflections of blue sky and clouds
in muddy waters

Credits: reflections on water (moon and aurora) © Robert Berdan

raindrops - rhythmic art of nature

in the pond circles fade

in faint moonlight
shadows of bare branches
move like humans

fireflies lightning my path

to the top of the mountains

high above the clouds
the thin air crystallizes
breathtaking

ageku:

everywhere around me I see

blue sky and everlasting snow

© Chèvrefeuille

It's a great way to learn how to associate on themes to make this all new kind of renga "Soliloquy No Renga" and I hope you all like it and will try it. 

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 20th at noon (CET). Than I will decide if I will do this feature again. Have fun!