Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #68 Tan Renga With Jane Reichhold "her gentle spirit"

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday 20th at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend meditation, that special feature for the weekend here at CDHK. Today, January 18th, Jane would have become 82 yrs. You all know that she decided to end her life herself, because she couldn't longer live with the pain of fibromyalgia ... so this weekend I will reshare an episode of our month in honor of Jane back in 2016:

Today I have chosen another nice modern kigo extracted from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku", a complete saijiki in which Jane gathered modern kigo and gave examples of all those modern kigo by creating wonderful haiku. Today I hope to inspire you with calm through the following haiku by Jane:

a certain calm
in summer's passing
flowers

flat seas
with the butterfly's flight
a certain calm

the hour silent
before the birds awake
waves on sand

© Jane Reichhold

These haiku are wonderful and I can read Jane's fingerprints all over them. In a way Jane Reichhold created the "western" haiku without losing the respect for the Japanese haiku. She created beauty and shared it with the world. Without her the "western" haiku had died long ago, but that's my humble opinion.

As I read the above trio of haiku I felt Jane's presence and that inspired me to create the following haiku:

her gentle spirit
the calm of an early morning
a bird's song

© Chèvrefeuille

I love this haiku ... one of my best I would say (how immodest) ... Jane and I are connected in a very nice spiritual way and I hope to feel her presence forever.

The challenge for this weekend meditation is to create Tan Renga with the above three given haiku by Jane Reichhold. A Tan Renga looks like a Tanka, but is written by two poets instead of one poet. It's a kind of chained poem. You have to create the second stanza of each Tan Renga. (See also above in the menu)

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday January 20th at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 27th at noon (CET). Have a great weekend!

Carpe Diem #1529 Together ... (Tan Renga Challenge)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am a proud host. In our six years we have become a warmhearted family of haiku poets. We did this together ... Together is our theme for today and to celebrate "being together" I have chosen to challenge you to create a Tan Renga ... one of the nicest forms of Japanese poetry. Tan Renga is a real example of "together", because we are creating "together" inspired on a given haiku.

For this post, this Tan Renga challenge, I have chosen a renown haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) taken from his renown haibun "Oku No Hosomichi" (The Small Road Into The Deep North).

Here is the haiku to work with and create your Tan Renga:

hitotsuya ni yuujo mo netari hagi to tsuki

courtesan and monk,
sleeping  under one roof together,
moon in a field of clover

© Basho (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

Red Light District

Create your Tan Renga by adding your second stanza of two lines (approximately 14 syllables) through association on the scenes in the given haiku.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 31st at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

PS. I am still in uncertainty of the future of the hospital I am working at, because the hospital has big finacial problems ... so that's the reason why my posts are maybe short and sometimes sad of tone.

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #111 Autumn Heat

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Last week I re-started our weekly Tan Renga Challenge (TRC) on Wednesdays, but this week's TRC I couldn't make on time through lack of time, but here it is a new TRC for you:

This week I have a nice haiku written by Taneda Santoka (1882-1940) to work with. Santoka Taneda was a haiku poet who choose to free-style with haiku. What does that mean? He didn't follow the classical onji (5-7-5) or for example didn't use kigo (seasonwords). A style of haiku-ing I love too.

Begging Bowl

The goal of this TRC is to create the second stanza (of two-lines with approximately 14 words) through association on images and scenes in the given haiku. Here is the "hokku" to work with:

autumn heat --
my begging bowl
is full of rice

(C) Santoka Taneda (Tr. John Stevens)

This episode of our TRC is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 30th 10:00 PM (CEST). Have fun!

Carpe Diem #1337 Tan Renga Challenge "in the fields"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize, because I miscalculated that our CDHK episode of today (28/12) was the last regular episode of this month. I thought it was already Friday instead of Thursday. So I asked myself "What to do now?" Well ... I think I do an extra CDHK Tan Renga Challenge. So today I have a nice Tan Renga Challenge for you. 

For those who are new let me first explain what a Tan Renga is. A Tan Renga is a short chained poem written by two poets. The first poet gives the "hokku" or "starting verse" and the second adds a second stanza of two lines through associating on the images in the "hokku". A Tan Renga looks similar with the Tanka (5-lined poem), but is written by two poets instead of one poet. (More about Tan Renga you can find above in the menu where you also can find an exclusive CDHK E-book "Chained Together" in which I gathered all the Tan Renga which we created back in May 2016.

For this "extra" episode I have chosen three haiku from which you can start your Tan Renga. Here are the haiku (or "hokku") to use. You may use one, two or all three to create Tan Renga with.

ancient warriors ghosts

mists over the foreign highlands -

waiting for the full moon

© Chèvrefeuille

This one is inspired on that beautiful haiku "summer grasses" by Basho.

rice-planting

in the fields

with ripe rice plants for the Gods

the sickle is used . . .

© Takezaki Shisen 

And this last one ... another beauty ...

white poppy

it must have bloomed

from a wintry shower

© Basho

And now it's up to you to create your Tan Renga by adding your two-lined stanza (approximately 7-7 syllables) through associating on the scenes in the given haiku ("hokku"). As I wrote above you may choose one, two or all haiku to use for this Tan Renga Challenge.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 4th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new "weekend-meditation" later on.

Carpe Diem Sneak Preview October 10th 2017

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I love to give you a sneak preview for the upcoming months here at CDHK. First of all, I think you have noticed that I have changed the lay-out of our Kai. I think it makes CDHK more of this time and I think that this new lay-out looks fresh and fits us better than our former lay-out.

This month we are celebrating our first luster of our CDHK Family and I love it. It's a honor to be your host. It makes me proud, but humble too. Who am I that I can and may be your host. Without you, my dear Haijin, visitors and travelers, I couldn't make CDHK the best website on haiku and other Japanese poetry forms. Thank you all for being part of CDHK ...

Recently I dived into the "prompt suggestions" section of our Kai and I ran into an idea by Björn Rudberg. An idea that ... spook to me ... Next month we will explore the beauty of quatrains through Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat a wonderful series of quatrains. Say ... next month will be a month full of Carpe Diem Distillations. I hope to tell you something more about Omar Khayyam and I hope to explore the similarities between these quatrains and Japanese poetry. I am looking forward to this new spectecular month.

Omar Khayyam (1048-1131)

Let me give an example of one of the quatrains from his "Rubaiyat":

And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted Open then the Door!
You know how little while we have to stay,
And, once departed, may return no more.

© Omar Khayyam (taken from: Rubaiyat)

Of course in November we will go on with our weekend-meditations, which items that will be, we will see than. I hope to bring back the weekly Tan Renga Challenges, not as we had once on Fridays, but on Wednesdays.

Than December will start with a new theme, however not that new. I have done this earlier here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, but this time it will be a little bit different. In December I will try to inspire you through quotes all chosen from the novels from Paulo Coelho. I first had planned that theme for November, but it takes a lot of time to choose the quotes, I have to read all novels of Paulo Coelho first. I started recently with reading "Aleph" again. And that novel "triggered" me to make a whole month of "Use That Quote" with quotes by Paulo Coelho. Paulo is in my opinion a wise and spiritual man and in his works I have read wonderful sayings ... so I just had to create a month full of quotes by Paulo Coelho.
The choice to make a whole month about Paulo Coelho's thoughts and sayings is that his first novel "The Alchemist" is celebrating its 25 years anniversary. "The Alchemist" was once the first novel I read written by him ... and I was immediately caught by the beauty of his writing style.

Paulo Coelho

And ... I will give already a "hint" for the theme of January 2018 ... than we will visit the ancient sites of The Maya ....

Well ... I hope I have already made you all a little bit excited for the upcoming months.

Namasté,

Chèvrefeuille, your host

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #19 in the light of dawn (Chèvrefeuille, your host)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the last episode of this Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017. This month we have created wonderful Tan Renga inspired on wonderful "hokku" by classical and non-classical haiku poets. To conclude this month I have a nice haiku (how immodest) written by myself. This haiku I wrote in February 2016 as part of our first Theme Week. In this haiku I used the haiku writing technique "baransu" or "balance through association", a haiku writing technique which I created myself for our first series of CDHK Haiku Writing Techniques. More about this "baransu" technique you can find HERE.

Here is the "hokku" to work with for this last episode of this Tan Renga Challenge Month:

in the light of dawn
sunflowers reach to the blue sky
praising their Creator

© Chèvrefeuille

sunflowers (image found on Pinterest)

A wonderful challenge I think. Of course I cannot create a new 2nd stanza towards this one, because Tan renga is written by two poets and not by one. On the other hand ... I can create a Tanka with it, maybe that's what I am going to do.

in the light of dawn

sunflowers reach to the blue sky

praising their Creator

while a choir of birds falls in
she my love has to go home

© Chèvrefeuille

Not bad, not bad at all ... I even think this one is based on my experience, because when my wife and I met more then 25 years ago, she stayed several nights at my home, but had to leave at the break of dawn.

Well ... this was it ... our second Tan Renga Challenge Month at CDHK. I enjoyed creating it for you and I hope you all did like it.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 4th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our first episode of our next month, prayer flags, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #18 a wandering crow (Matsuo Basho)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today I have another nice challenge for you in this wonderful Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017. Today I love to challenge you with a beautiful "hokku" by Basho. This "hokku" was the first verse of a real renga which Basho attended. Basho was very well known in his time as a Renga master and he was invited at a lot of renga parties. The one that started with this "hokku" was attended at the home of one of Basho's elegant friends, Sakuei. Before I give you this "hokku" I will give you the so called "pre-script" to this "hokku", in Basho's time it was common to give haiku a title or a pre-script.

Pre-script:

This was composed when seeing a screen of plum blossoms and a crow at the house of Sakuei. A renga party was held with this as the starting poem.

a wandering crow
its old nest has become
a plum tree

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

This pre-script was not by Basho himself, it was added by Doho in his book Sho O Zen-den. In this poem Basho compares himself to the crow painted on the screen. Instead of lodging in the simplicity of a crow's nest, he sleeps among plum blossoms because he is staying with an elegant friend. Crows are not usually considered a migrating bird, but the idea of a wandering crow means a bird of passage or a priest on a journey. (Source: "Basho's Complete Haiku" by Jane Reichhold)

Crow and Plum Blossom (Woodblock Print) (image found on Pinterest)

Well ... as you can see in the "logo" of this episode of our Tan Renga Challenge, this time I love to challenge to create a "Soliloquy No Renga" (a "solo-renga"). What does that mean? Well .... it's a kind of renga I invented and the goal is to create a renga with at least six stanza following the sequence: "hokku", (in this case, the haiku by Basho); two lined stanza, three lined stanza, two lined stanza, three lined stanza, two lined stanza, and so on. The last stanza the "ageku" (closing verse) makes the "chain" complete. (So at least 6 stanza ... but if you like you may do more stanza).

!! More on Soliloquy No Renga, you can find HERE)

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until June 3rd at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #17 wind in the pines (Candy)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This beautiful Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 is almost over. We have only a few days left and than we will take the plane to Tibet, to explore this wonderful country in the Himalayans. But that's for later.

Today I have a new challenge for you a "hokku" by one of our Haiku Family members and one of the winners of our kukai. Today's Tan Renga Challenge starts with a "hokku" by Candy.

wind in the pines
swirls upward to heaven
whispered prayers

© Candy

Pines

A beauty I would say and I think I can remember that Candy wrote this one in response on a beautiful haiku by Jane Reichhold:

reaching for the sun
the great pine's shadow
shapes the tree

© Jane Reichhold

Well ... maybe I am mistaken on this but I don't know it for sure.

Here is my attempt to complete this Tan Renga:

wind in the pines

swirls upward to heaven

whispered prayers                                           © Candy

birds are singing their song
praising Mother Nature                                   © Chèvrefeuille

Not as strong as I had hoped, but in a way I like the twist in my stanza, because "the wind" has been the messenger of the spirits and gods ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until June 2nd at noon (CET). Have fun!

PS. I have published our new prompt-list for June 2017. We are going to explore Tibet. You can find the prompt-list in the menu above.

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #16 a drop of dew (Bosha)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to create another beautiful Tan Renga Challenge for you all. Yesterday we had a beautiful "afriku" by Adjei Agyei Baah as our "hokku" and today I have a beauty by a not so well known haiku poet, a contemporary of Shiki and a devotee to Basho, as we already can see in his haigo, Bosha.

Let me tell you first something about this not so well known haiku poet. Kawabata Bosha (1897-1941) was born on August 17 in Downtown Tokyo.His family name is Kawabata Nobukazu. His father had a great influence on his haiku career. His grandfather and his mother worked in a hospital and as a child it was his wish to become a doctor himself.
His stepbrother was Kawabata Ryush (Ryuushi), who later became a famous painter of traditional Japanese Paintings (Nihonga). Bosha himself was also a great painter.

At age 17 he started to use the haigo Bosha. He later became a most beloved student of Takahama Kyoshi and worked with the Aogiri Group. But his lung tuberculosis became worse and he died at a young age in 1941. On the evening of July 16 he died, this was his Jisei (death-poem).

ishi makura shite ware semi ka naki shigure

a stone for a pillow
me, just another cicada ...
so shrill, like crying

© Kawabata Bosha

Kawabata Bosha (1897-1941)

A beautiful Jisei (death-poem) I would say. As read this Jisei I immediately thought about a haiku written by my sensei Matsuo Basho. In a way the haiku by Bosha was I think inspired on a haiku by Basho.

That haiku was the following:

the deep stillness
seeping into the rocks
the voice of the cicadas

© Matsuo Basho

Did you know that the life-circle of a cicada is 17 years? Could it be that our 17 syllables counting haiku was inspired on the life circle of the cicada? As that is true than haiku is for sure the poetry of nature.

Well ... enough talking. Let me give you the "hokku" by Bosha to work with.

a drop of dew 
sits on a rock 
like a diamond

© Kawabata Bosha

a drop of dew

I hope I have inspired you to create the second stanza towards this "hokku" by Bosha. I am looking forward to your responses.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until May 29th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new "weekend-meditation" a new episode of Namasté, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #15 ancient road (Adjei Agyei Baah)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode in our Carpe Diem TRC month 2017. Yesterday we had a classical haiku poet, Kikaku, and today we have a modern haiku poet to inspire us. Today I have chosen for a "hokku" written by Adjei Agyei Baah, a very talented haiku poet from Ghana. Adjei invented the "Afriku", the haiku from Africa and is the initiator of several haiku events in Ghana and other parts of Africa. Last year his first haiku compilation "Afriku, haiku and senryu from Ghana" was published by Red Moon Press. "Afriku" is a wonderful compilation of beautiful haiku and senryu and for sure worth to read and re-read.

Today's haiku is not from this "Afriku" compilation, but one of his haiku responses on a prompt by CDHK.

ancient road…
the trails of the masters
absorbed in fallen leaves

© Adjei Agyei-Baah

Ancient Road ...

The task is to create a Tan Renga through association on the scenes in the "hokku" and add two lines of approximately 7-7 syllables towards it.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 28th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #14 Springtime (Kikaku)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Here is our new "hokku" to work with and create a Tan Renga. This "hokku" is by one of Basho's students, Kikaku.

Springtime in Edo,
Not a day passes without
A temple bell sold.

© Kikaku

Sorry for the delay and the short episode.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 27th at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #13 bamboo (Jane Reichhold)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. I had a great weekend on the nightshift (smiles), so I couldn't enjoy the beautiful weather we had here in The Netherlands. The upcoming days I will be free of work and the weather is gonna look great this week so I will enjoy it this week.

Last "regular" Tan Renga Challenge we had a nice haiku by Ogiwara Seisensui, a classical haiku poet who loved the "free-style" way of haiku-ing as we "enjoy" here in the Western world. And in a way that makes him one of my "heroes", because I love the "free-style" too (or as I call it Kanshicho, "in the way of the Chinese poetry").

Bamboo

Today I have another nice haiku in which we can see the Western way of haiku-ing. Our new "hokku" is by my beloved sensei and co-host who died last year, Jane Reichhold. This "hokku" is extracted from Jane's "A Dictionary of Haiku":

bamboo
waving candlelight into the night
wind

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

A beauty I think. So I am looking forward to your continuations or completions of the Tan Renga starting with this "hokku".

Have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 27th at noon (CET).

 

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #12 dandelion, dandelion (Ogiwara Seisensui)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today I have another not so well known classical haiku poet who was a contemporary of Shiki and Santoka Taneda, Ogiwara Seisensui (1884-1976), maybe you can remember him, because I have written about him earlier here at CDHK.

Let me tell you a little bit more about him.

Ogiwara Seisensui (1884 - 1976) was the pen-name of Ogiwara Tōkichi, a Japanese haiku poet active during the Taishō and Showa periods of Japan. Seisensui was born in what is now the Hamamatsuchō neighborhood of Minato, Tokyo, as the younger son of a general goods retailer. Both of his siblings died in infancy. Although he attended Seisoku Junior High School, Ogiwara was expelled after publishing a student newspaper criticizing the school's educational methods and administration. After entering Azabu Junior High School, he quit drinking and smoking, seriously engaged in studying, and gained admission to Tokyo Imperial University. While a student majoring in linguistics, he became interested in writing haiku.

Ogiwara Seisensui (1884-1976)

Seisensui co-founded the avant-garde literary magazine Sōun ("Layered Clouds") in 1911, together with fellow haiku poet Kawahigashi Hekigoto. Ogiwawa was a strong proponent of abandoning haiku traditions, especially the "season words" so favored by Takahama Kyoshi, and even the 5-7-5 syllable norms. In his Haiku teisho (1917), he broke with Hekigoto and shocked the haiku world by advocating further that haiku be transformed into free verse. His students included Ozaki Hōsai and Taneda Santōka. His role in promoting the format of free-style haiku has been compared with that of Masaoka Shiki for traditional verse, with the contrast that Seisensui was blessed with both vigorous health, and considerable wealth. He also was able to use new media to promote his style, including lectures and literary criticism on national radio.

Seisensui's wife and daughter perished in the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, and his mother died the same year. He moved to Kyoto briefly, and lived for a while at a chapel within the Buddhist temple of Tofuku-ji. He also began a period of travel around the country. He remarried in 1929, and relocated to Kamakura, Kanagawa. He moved to Azabu in Tokyo until his house was destroyed during World War II. He then moved back to Kamakura in 1944, where he lived until his death.

Dandelion (image found on Pinterest)

Here is the "hokku" to work with today:

dandelion dandelion

on the sandy beach

spring opens its eyes

© Ogiwara Seisensui

As I look at this haiku and re-read it several times I sense fragility in the scene, but also strength. Dandelions are very strong flowers and they survive almost everywhere.

Here is my completed Tan Renga:

dandelion dandelion

on the sandy beach

spring opens its eyes                           © Ogiwara Seisensui

youngsters full of life
taking their first naked dive               © Chèvrefeuille

In my second stanza I tried to catch the feeling of fragility and strength by "super-impose" them on youngsters. They are full of life and full of adventure and in the second stanza they are bringing that together through their naked dive. In early spring the sea here in The Netherlands is very cold, so I applaud these youngsters that they dare to take that naked dive.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until May 22nd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new "weekend-meditation", a new episode of Universal Jane, later on. Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #11 taste of nature (Sara McNulty)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Yesterday we had that beautiful "hokku" by Ryokan Taigu, a classical haiku poet, and today I have another beauty, but this time created by one our CDHK family members.
Today I love to challenge you to create a Tan Renga with a "hokku" by Sara McNulty. Sara is a long term member of our CDHK family and she has managed to create her own specific style of haiku writing. In this haiku that's also true.

Here is the "hokku" by Sara to work with:

taste of nature–
sweet blackberry bushes
sing to child and bees

© Sara McNulty

Black Berry Bush (image found on Pinterest)

Yummy black berries, you can find them everywhere in nature. Along the road, in the middle of a city or just on an unexpected place.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until May 21st at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #10 an autumn leaf (Ryokan Taigu)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today I have a beautiful "hokku" by a not so well known classical haiku poet, Ryokan Taigu (1758-1831). Let me tell you a little bit more about him to introduce him to you.

Ryokan Taigu (1758-1831)

Ryōkan was born as Eizō Yamamoto (Yamamoto Eizō?) in the village of Izumozaki in Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture) in Japan to the village headman. He renounced the world at an early age to train at nearby Sōtō Zen temple Kōshō-ji, refusing to meet with or accept charity from his family. Once the Zen master Kokusen visited the temple, and Ryōkan was deeply impressed with his demeanor. He solicited permission to become Kokusen's disciple. Kokusen accepted, and the two returned to Entsū-ji monastery in Tamashima (now Okayama Prefecture).

It was at Entsū-ji that Ryōkan attained satori and was presented with an Inka by Kokusen. Kokusen died the following year, and Ryōkan left Entsū-ji to embark on a long pilgrimage. He lived much of the rest of his monastic life as a hermit. His decision to leave Entsū-ji may have been influenced by Gentō Sokuchū, the abbot of the temple. At the time, Gentō was aggressively reforming the Sōtō school to remove perceived 'foreign' elements, including kōan.

He was originally ordained as Ryōkan Taigu. Ryō means "good", kan means "broad", and Taigu means "great fool"; Ryōkan Taigu would thus translate as "broad-hearted generous fool", referring to qualities that Ryōkan's work and life embodies.

Ryōkan spent much of his time writing poetry, doing calligraphy, and communing with nature. His poetry is often very simple and inspired by nature. He loved children, and sometimes forgot to beg for food because he was playing with the children of the nearby village. Ryōkan refused to accept any position as a priest or even as a "poet." In the tradition of Zen his quotes and poems show he had a good sense of humor and didn't take himself too seriously.

Statue of  Ryokan Taigu

Ryōkan lived a very simple life, and stories about his kindness and generosity abound. On his deathbed, Ryōkan offered the following death poem to Teishin, his close companion:

Although he lived a simple and pure life, Ryōkan also displayed characteristics that under normal circumstances would be out of line for a typical monk.

In 1826 Ryōkan became ill and was unable to continue living as a hermit. He moved into the house of one of his patrons, Kimura Motouemon, and was cared for by a young nun called Teishin. "The [first] visit left them both exhilarated, and led to a close relationship that brightened Ryōkan's final years".The two of them exchanged a series of haiku. The poems they exchanged are both lively and tender. Ryōkan died from his illness on the 6th day of the new year 1831. "Teishin records that Ryōkan, seated in meditation posture, died 'just as if he were falling asleep”.

The "hokku" you have to use today is Ryokan's Jisei (death-poem):

ura wo mise omote wo misete chiru momiji

now it reveals its hidden side

and now the other—thus it falls,

an autumn leaf

© Ryokan Taigu

I love this haiku very much, because of the movement in it, the dance of the leaves ... really nice to work with I think.

Here is my attempt to create a Tan Renga with this "hokku" by Ryokan:

now it reveals its hidden side

and now the other—thus it falls,

an autumn leaf                                 © Ryokan Taigu

even nature has its own spirit
performing its "dying swan"            © Chèvrefeuille

I was triggered by the visueel dance in Ryokan's "hokku" and the first thing that came to mind was the "dying swan" scene of that famous ballet "Swan Lake" composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. I associated on "autumn", the season in which nature "dies" and the movement by the falling leaves.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until May 20th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #9 leaves float away (Dolores Fegan)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Last Thursday we had a nice "hokku" to work with written by a classical haiku poet so today I have a "hokku" written by a modern haiku poetess. I think you all will know her, because she is an active participant at CDHK, Dolores Fegan. (At the right side of our Kai you can find her e-book "First Magnolia Bloom", for sure worth to read.

The "hokku" of today is the following, a "magical" haiku of autumn:

autumn evening
like whispered prayers
leaves float away

© Dolores

autumn leaves (image found on Pinterest)

Isn't it a wonderful "hokku" to work with? Here is my attempt to create a Tan Renga with it through adding my 2nd stanza.

autumn evening

like whispered prayers

leaves float away                               © Dolores

voices of the gods
respond through rain                          © Chèvrefeuille

Awesome ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until May 19th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #8 The flower of a pumpkin (Tomiyashu Fusei)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another day has gone, we are running to halfway this wonderful Tan Renga Challenge month and until today I just loved all the continuations and completions you all have shared here. Thank you all for participating in this daily challenge to create Tan Renga.

Yesterday we had a nice haiku by Hamish Managua Gunn and so today it is time for another classical haiku poet, however ... our "hokku" of today is written by Tomiyasu Fusei (1885 - 1979), a contemporary of Shiki and maybe not that classical as other haiku poets from the past I used here, because Tomiyasu died in 1979. I had planned to use another haiku written by him, because I really didn't know more about him. So as I was doing some research for this new episode I ran into other beauties written by him. So I decided to use another haiku.

Tomiyasu Fusei

Let me tell you first a little bit more about Tomiyasu Fusei:

Tomiyasu Fusei was a famous member of the Hototogisu Haiku Group (started by Shiki), from Aichi prefecture. He later founded the "Haiku Association of Tokyo University", Toodai Haiku Kai with Mizuhara Shuoshi and Yamaguchi Seishi. They were all students of Takahama Kyoshi.

Ishizuchi mo nankin no hana mo ooi nari

The flower of a pumpkin
as well as Mt. Ishizuchi
is great in scale

© Tomiyasu Fusei (1885 - 1979)

He was born in Aichi Prefecture as the fourth son to father "Saburo" and mother "Naka", in 1885. His real name was "Kenji". Naka's father had the Haigo (pen name) "Baigetsu (plum moon)", so his literary talent was descended from his mother.

In May of 1937, he retired as the vice minister of communications after 27 years' service with the Ministry of Communicaions. In July 1937, he visited Matsuyama for the first time and arrived at Niihama, he composed this Haiku as his first impression of Ehime. (Mount Ishizuchi is a famous holy mountain in Shikoku Island.)

Mount Ishizuchi in autumn (Shikoku Island Japan)

Shikoku Island is a once in a lifetime to do pilgrimage for every Buddhist along the 88 temples on this island. A few years ago we did this pilgrimage virtually here at CDHK (February and March 2014, you can find those posts through the "archive-list" at the right side of our Kai.)

The haiku by Fusei which I shared above is our "hokku" for today and here is my attempt to create a Tan Renga with it by adding my two-lined second stanza.

the flower of a pumpkin

as well as Mt. Ishizuchi

is great in scale                                   © Tomiyasu Fusei 

glowing Halloween eyes
scaring the ghosts away                     © Chèvrefeuille

Not as strong as I had hoped, but as I read "pumpkin" I just had to use Halloween in my continuation. And now it is up to you to add your second stanza through association.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 15th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, a new "weekend-meditation", an episode of Namasté, The Spiritual Way, later on. For now .... have fun!

PS. I have included a new exclusive CDHK E-book on Troiku, titled "Flamingo Clouds", in our CDHK Library. A preview of this new CDHK E-book you can find above in the menu.

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #7 two sets of footprints (Hamish Managua Gunn)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at this new episode of our Tan Renga Challenge. Yesterday we had a classical haiku poet and today I love to challenge you to create a Tan Renga with the following haiku by Hamish Managua Gunn:

two sets of footprints
in freshly fallen snow
one pair from Kyoto

© Hamish Managua Gunn

I believe this haiku came from his E-book Shinrin-Yoku in which Hamish gathered several of his kikobun.

By the way: Shinrin-Yoku you can download for free in our CDHK Library.

Footprints In The Snow (Image found on Pinterest)

 This episode of our TRC is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will run until May 14th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017 #6 first autumn morning (Murakami Kijo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our Tan Renga Challenge Month 2017. Today I have a nice haiku by Murakami Kijo (1865-1938). He was a contemporary of Shiki and was influenced by the style of Shiki's haiku.
Maybe you can remember our Tan Renga Challenge Month of 2016 or maybe the weekly Tan Renga Challenge in 2016. In that month we have had also a haiku by Murakami Kijo. The "hokku" for today's TRC is a reprise I think of one of his haiku back then.

first autumn morning
the mirror I stare into
shows my father's face.

© Murakami Kijo

Murakami Kijo (1865-1938)

A short biography:

Kijo was born in 1865 in Edo, Japan. He studied law but gave this up after losing his hearing due to illness. In 1894, he worked as a legal scribe in Takasaki. He helped publish the first edition of Hotogisu, a haiku magazine. He published his collection of work in 1923 with Harold Zod. In 1927, his house burned down with everything that he owned. Kijo died on September 17, 1938.

Here is my attempt to create a Tan Renga with this "hokku":

first autumn morning

the mirror I stare into

shows my father's face                               © Murakami Kijo

reflections of the autumn moon
this rainy day makes me feel alone            © Chèvrefeuille

Well ... a short episode, I hope you do like it nevertheless.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 13th at noon (CET). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge 2017 #5 silent steps

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend and I am ,looking forward to your responses on our last "weekend-meditation", an episode of Universal Jane. I had a nice weekend, relaxed and full of family fun.

This month we are busy with our 2nd Tan Renga Challenge here at CDHK. and today I have another nice challenge for you. In our last regular episode I challenged you to create a Tan Renga from a classical haiku by Boncho and so today I have a modern haiku for you. Today I have chosen a haiku created by Ese Klava with this haiku she became the "runner-up" of our "prayers" kukai. Maybe you can remember this beauty.

silent steps -
one more candle illuminates
the old chapel

© Ese

Candles

As I was preparing this new episode of our Tan Renga Challenge 2017 a haiku by Buson came in mind which sounds familiar, but has also in a way a link to the haiku by Ese. So I love to share that haiku here also, maybe you can also try to create a Tan Renga with this haiku by Buson.

lightning one candle
with another candle
an evening in spring

© Buson (Tr. unknown)

As you all know the goal of the Tan Renga Challenge is to add your two lined 2nd stanza to the Tan Renga's "hokku". Those two lines may count approximately 7 and 7 syllables, but as you also know, that's not a strict rule here at CDHK.

Here is my attempt to create a Tan Renga with the haiku by Ese:

silent steps -
one more candle illuminates
the old chapel                          © Ese
voices of monks resonate
against the walls praising their god               © Chèvrefeuille

And here is my attempt to create a Tan Renga with the haiku by Buson:

lightning one candle
with another candle
an evening in spring              © Buson (Tr. unknown)
shadows dance on the walls
telling spooky stories to the kids                  © Chèvrefeuille

Well ... now it is up to you my dear Haijin to complete the Tan Renga for this episode.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until May 12th at noon (CET). Have fun ... !