Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Weekend Meditation Summer 2022: #1 Sunrise (Crossroads Challenge)

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It is almost Summer 2022 (on the Northern Hemisphere) and to give you all the opportunity to create haiku this summer I have created this CDHK Weekend Meditation Summer 2022. I will create every weekend, mostly on Friday evening, an episode of this Summer 2022 Weekend Meditation, 

For this first Summer 2022 Weekend Meditation I have chosen the theme Sunrise (a Crossroads Challenge). A Crossroads Challenge means that I will give you two haiku. With those two haiku you have to create a new haiku. With that "third" haiku I challenge you to create a Troiku (more about the Troiku you can find above in the menu or by clicking HERE).

Here are the two haiku to work with, both are created by Jane Reichhold (1937-2016) and are extracted from her online "Dictionary of Haiku":

dream dancer
sleeping without a pillow
on scarred boards

© Jane Reichhold

slipping into the pool
naked divides the night
sun-warmed waters

© Jane Reichhold

Try to create a "fusion" of the both haiku to create the third haiku to work with, ofcourse you can also create a new haiku associated on the two given haiku. With that third haiku you have to create a Troiku. In short that means, create a new haiku with every separated line. The result of this Crossroads Challenge will be "four" new haiku in total.

This Summer 2022 Weekend Meditation is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until Monday May 23rd at 10:00 PM (CEST). Have fun! You can add your submission to the Linking Widget hidden in our Logo below.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #1361: A New Month starting off

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It seems that I am not capable of continueing CDHK as I wanted last month. There is always a kind of not having time enough. So I am trying it again. This new month, May 2022, I have chosen the theme "New Horizons". In this month I hope to post new CDHK episodes with a "look into the future" idea.

We are living in a world that is "on fire", not only through the war in the Ukraine, but we are also in a world that is in an endemic called Covid-19. Everywhere on this world we have to deal with this "new" illness and it gives us the opportunity to look into a new future, but what kind of future?

As you all know there are a lot of conspiracies going on and the most important is the silent threat of what is called "The New World Order" initiated by the wealthy Elite and several other worldwide institutions like the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organisation and the European Union and maybe you know a few others.

I am not a conspiracy thinker, but I have my thoughts and concerns about it. 

For today's challenge I have chosen for a so called "Crossroads-Haiku" and a "Troiku". To give you the challenge I have chosen two nice haiku written by Jane Reichhold (1937-2016), one of our best modern haiku poets.

Here are the two haiku to work with:

the night is shortened
by your letters on the pillow
here beside me

the road before us
departing clouds bright
with a rising sun

© Jane Reichhold (extracted from: A Dictionary Of Haiku (online version))

The goal is to create a new (third) haiku from these two haiku. You can fuse the actual lines of the haiku, or create a new haiku through association on the both haiku.

With that new haiku I love to challenge you to create a Troiku (more on Troiku HERE)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will stay open until Friday May 6th 10:00 PM (CEST). Have fun! You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem #1799 New Beginnings ... a huge wave (Crossroads feature)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today a very special episode in our wonderful Kai. This month our theme is "New Beginnings" and today I will leave that theme in a way.
As you all know one of the renown modern haiku poets was Jane Reichhold (1937-2016), she was a co-author here and co-host. She is still missed.

Today I have chosen two haiku written by her and I love to challenge you to create a "fusion-ku" and with that "fusion-ku" a Troiku ... (more on Troiku above in the menu).

Here are the two haiku by Jane to work with:

a huge wave
thundering across the beach
my birthday

sky-clad
the new-born comes wrapped
in previous lives

© Jane Reichhold (extracted from the online Saijiki "A Dictionary Of Haiku", section "New Year")

Two beautiful haiku created by the Queen of Haiku, Jane Reichhold, to work with. Enjoy this excercise.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 23rd at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new weekend meditation later on.

Carpe Diem #1789 The Winter Trees (Crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the penultimate episode of November. In this month our theme was / is "Never Change A Winning Team" and that means that it all was about haiku, my first love. For this episode I have chosen a nice set of haiku.

Yosa Buson (source: wiki-art)

The task is to create a "fusion-ku" from the two given haiku and create a Troiku with it, so this episode is a "Crossroads" episode. Here are the two haiku to work with:

cutting into with the ax,
I was surprised at the scent.
the winter trees.

unfolding at the
hand of the glass polisher:
a camellia!

© Yosa Buson

Two wonderful haiku by one of the "big five" haiku poets.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 6th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our weekend meditation later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1784 soaking wet (Crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This month our theme is "Never Change A Winning Team" and it's all about haiku, my first love. In the seven years of CDHK I have always tried to stay with my first love, haiku, but that changed during the years.

From the haiku I invented a few new poetry forms, like the Troiku and the "fusion-ku". Today I love to bring both forms together. I have chosen two haiku by one of the renown classical masters and your task is to create a "fusion-ku" and to create a Troiku with that "fusion-ku".

Pampas Grass

Here are the two haiku to work with:

soaking wet
I can’t read the letters
on the signpost

walking through
the bush clover, the pampas grass,
walking on through them

© Santoka Taneda

Two nice haiku by Santoka Taneda I would say, maybe you can remember them, because I used them earlier here at our wonderful Kai.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 27th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... enjoy the challenge.

Carpe Diem #1777 Classical and non-classical in symbiosis ...

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have to apologize for being late with publishing our regular episode of Friday November 8th, I hadn't time to create an episode.

This episode I love to challenge you with a "Crossroads Task". I will give you two haiku, you have to create a new haiku with those two haiku, a so called "fusion-ku". With your new haiku you have to create a Troiku (more about Troiku above in the menu).

I have chosen a haiku by a non-classical poetess, Jane Reichhold (1937-2016) and a classical poetess, Chiyo-Ni (1703-1775). Here are the two "crossroads" haiku to work with:

cricket silence
between scraping sounds
autumn begins

© Jane Reichhold

it touches the line
of my fishing pole -
this summer moon

© Chiyo-Ni

And now it's up to you to create your "fusion-ku" and your Troiku and share it with us all.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 16th at noon (CET). I will publish our new weekend-meditation later today.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #97 depth of a flower (CD Crossroads)

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday August 11th at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First my apologies for being late with publishing of this new weekend meditation, I hadn't time earlier, but now I have found some time to create it.

This weekend I love to challenge you with a Crossroads episode. A Crossroads episode challenges you to create a "fusion"-haiku from two given haiku and create a troiku with your fusion-haiku (more about Troiku above in the menu).

Wildflower Bouquet

As you all know this month we are creating a bouquet of field flowers, so I have chosen two haiku in which field flowers are used. I have chosen two haiku by Jane Reichhold, taken from her "A Dictionary of Haiku", section: summer, subsection: plants. Here are the two haiku to work with:

windy weather
calling the flowers by name
each nods

depth of a flower
flying away with the bee
some mystery

© Jane Reichhold (source: A Dictionary of Haiku)

Two beauties by Jane, she is still missed. Enjoy this weekend meditation.

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday August 11th at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until August 18th at noon (CEST). Have an awesome weekend full of inspiration.

Carpe Diem #1709 shadow (Crossroads-Troiku)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. This month we have all prompts about "Summer Love". I love summer, but at the moment I "hate" summer because here in The Netherlands we have a heatwave. It's more than 30 degrees Celsius and later this week we will have temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius. For us dutch people this is really to hot ... but we have to deal with it. That's why my wife and I are always seeking for shadow to cool down. That brings me to the prompt for today "shadow".

Today I love to challenge you to create a Troiku with a so called "fusion-haiku", that new haiku created from two given haiku ... a crossroads episode this will be. Here are the two haiku to work with:

blue autumn skies
folded into mountains
purple shadow

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

such a hot day
my shadow needs to cool down
under the willow

© Kyoshi Takahama (1874-1958)

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 30th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #90 Crossroads ... Summer Solstice (Troiku Hineri)

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday June 23rd at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend meditation here at our wonderful Haiku Kai, the place to be if you like to create and share Japanese poetry. I hope you all enjoy this Troiku month and ofcourse I hope that your muses are active to inspire you.

This weekend I love to challenge you with a Crossroads episode. As you all know in the Crossroads feature I will give you two (sometimes more) haiku from which you have to create a so called "fusion-haiku". That "fusion-haiku" you have to use to create a Troiku with. This weekend I love to challenge you a little bit more.

This weekend you have to create a Troiku Hineri. What does that mean? Well .. as you all know a Troiku starts with a "source-haiku" from which you have to create three new haiku using the separated three lines as the first line of the new haiku. You created than three new haiku. In a Troiku Hineri you are repeating that same creating proces with the separated lines of your three new haiku. Doing that you create a total of nine new haiku (in total a Troiku Hineri gives you 12 new haiku).

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge (UK)

Today (June 21st) on the Northern hemisphere Summer has started, so for this weekend meditation "Crossroads" I have chosen Summer Solstice as theme. Here are the haiku to work with, one by a classical haiku poet and one by a modern haiku poet:

this short night -
from a shallow well I scoop
a persimmon flower

© Yosa Buson (1716-1784)

solstice splits
between the peach halves
a red stone sun

© Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

Two wonderful haiku I think. It gives you the opportunity to create a "fusion-haiku", a symbiosis, between ancient - and modern times.

Enjoy your weekend ... This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday June 23rd at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until June 30th at noon (CEST). Have a wonderful sunny weekend full of inspiration, but also time to relax ...

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #88 Crossroads ... Sea Cliffs

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday June 9th at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend meditation episode. Last weekend I asked you to create a Troiku from a Crossroads haiku and this weekend I love to do that again. I will give you two haiku to work with. Those two haiku you need to for creating a new haiku, a kind of fusion-haiku, to start your Troiku with.

Here are the two haiku to use for your "fusion-haiku":

coming to sea cliffs
the off-shore breeze raises
a flower fragrance

curving with the land
a rainbow of clouds
moves out to sea

© Jane Reichhold (Taken from: "A Dictionary of Haiku", a Modern Saijiki)

As you all know Jane (1937-2016) was once our co-host and my back-up here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. She died in 2016, but I still miss her. I know you all miss her too, but her spirit is dwelling here at CDHK.
Honor Jane with your submissions. She is missed ...

Cliffs of Moher

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday June 9th at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until June 16th at noon (CEST). Have a wonderful weekend full of inspiration,

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #87 Crossroads ...

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday June 2nd at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new weekend meditation here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. Today (June 1st) Summer starts according to meteorology, so I have created a new logo for our weekend meditation. On the logo you see the renown Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) at Kyoto Japan.

As you all know the weekend meditation is a way to meditate and contemplate about your Japanese poetry before publishing. This weekend I love to challenge you with a "Crossroads" episode. The goal is to create a new haiku inspired on two given haiku and create a Troiku with the newly created haiku. (More on Troiku above in the menu).

Deep Silence

Here are the two haiku to work with, both are created by myself:

reaching for the sun
lotus flowers bloom from the mud
old pond changes

deep silence
even deeper as the nightingale starts to sing
beautiful life

© Chèvrefeuille (2017)

Create your new haiku from or inspired on these two haiku and create a Troiku with your new haiku. Enjoy your weekend and this Crossroads challenge.

This episode is open for your submissions next Sunday June 2nd at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until June 9th at noon (CEST). Have a wonderful weekend.

Carpe Diem #1596 Black Forest

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the last episode of our wonderful January 2019 month in which we have explored the beauty of classical and modern kigo (seasonword). For this last episode I have a nice modern kigo taken from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku". Today I love to challenge you to create a "fusion-ku" with the two given haiku Jane Reichhold. The modern kigo for today is "Black Forest" and here are the haiku to work with:

black forest
night extinguishes
the snow

sun and snow
still in the pines
the black forest

© Jane Reichhold (Extracted from her "A Dictionary of Haiku", a modern saijiki)

Black Forest

Look at the image above ... this is what "Black Forest" is. Bare branches covered with snow. It makes nature awesome, but also mysterious and magical. I think Jane has made a wonderful choice with this modern kigo.

Here is my humble attempt to create a "fusion-ku" with these two haiku by Jane:

pines covered with snow
the sweet perfume melts in the sun
ah! listen ... that dripping

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... I don't know ... is this a "fusion-ku"? It's for sure (how immodest) a good haiku, not a masterpiece, but its one of my best since a long time.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 6th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, the first of February, later on. By the way I Haven't yet decided which theme we will have in February. I have two ideas, first a Tan Renga Challenge month or ... second another journey. I will decide later ... so I hope I can surprise you all.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #65 Crossroads ... Troiku ... New Year's Eve

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday December 30th 2018 at 7:00 PM (CET) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I have a few announcements to make: next month January 2019 all our prompts will be modern and classic kigo (seasonwords). This is the last weekend meditation of 2018 and in the last month of 2018 we were on a roadtrip along the Pan American Highway. We have only one regular episode to go, December 31st, and that means that we will not reach the end of our trip. To complete the Pan American Highway I will create next month an (extra) feature, because I love to complete our roadtrip along the Pan American Highway.
Second: Next month I will probably start in a new job more close to my home. As you all know recently I started in a new job at the VU Medical Center Amsterdam, but it turns out that traveling to the VU Medical Center has a big impact on my health and well being. So I have decided to resign my job.

Okay ... back to our weekend meditation, the last of 2018, ... I have chosen to challenge you with a "Crossroads" episode with a "twist". The goal of this weekend meditation is to create a "fusion ku" and a Troiku with that "fusion ku". The theme I have chosen for this last weekend meditation is "New Year's Eve" and here are the haiku to work with, both by Jane Reichhold and taken from her online "dictionary of haiku":

Jane Reichhold (1937-2016)

a new year
rising from wild seas
a few stars

filling
the glass with candlelight
champagne

© Jane Reichhold

As you all know Jane was a very close friend of mine and she was co-host several years here at CDHK. Back in 2016 she died, but she will never be forgotten. Her spirit is dwelling here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and she is still missed.

So this last weekend meditation of 2018 is in honor of Jane Reichhold (1937-2016). Let her be proud on us all.

Have a great weekend!

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday, December 30th 2019, at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until January 6th at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem #1565 Pacific Beach ... San Diego

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. This month we are "haiku-ing along the Pan American Highway" and today we are finding a place to rest on Pacific Beach San Diego. San Diego has a Mediterranean Climate and that makes it a nice place to take time to meditate and contemplate and just enjoy the climate. So today I have a nice "crossroads" feature. As you all know the goal of "crossroads" is to create a "fusion ku". I have chosen a few haiku for you themed "beach" to work with.

Pacific Beach San Diego

Here are the haiku, this time I chosen two written by myself:

a whisper of rain
awakens me gently
morning on the beach

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

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 19th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1553 waving the pampas grass (crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I had a very busy day today, because I had to arrange some things for my new job at the University Hospital were I will start Friday December 7th at the Hematology unit. But now back to our prompt for today. As you have read in the title I have a nice crossroads episode for you.

I have found two nice (modern) haiku by two different haiku poets that died in the last century. I will give you the two haiku and than I challenge you to create a fusion ku with it and if you like ... you can also create a Troiku with your fusion ku, but that's not necessary.

Pampas Grass (© Stacey Mollus)

Waving the pampass grass,
At the Shinjuku station,
I said goodbye.

© Yamaguchi Seison(1892-1988)


The migratory birds
Make the wind blowing down to Asaka
From mountains frequently.

© Kawahigashi Hekigoto(1873-1937)

Two nice haiku by two not so renown haiku poets to work with. Enjoy the fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until December 3rd at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diiem #1551 Dew Of The World (Revise That Haiku ... Hineri)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Maybe you remember our special feature "revise that haiku" here at our wonderful Kai. It's a "tricky" feature, because I challenge you to "revise" haiku by renoen classical and nonclassical haiku poets. So ... it's possible that I ask you to "revise" haiku written by one of the "big-five" (Basho, Buson, Chiyo-Ni, Issa and Shiki) and that's exactly what I am going to do this episode.

I will give you two haiku, one by Chiyo-Ni and one by Issa, and the background to "revise", but that's not all what I am asking of you this time (it's a hineri, with a "twist", episode). I also ask you to create a "fusion"-haiku with your two revisions and to create a Troiku with that "fusion"-haiku. A tough challenge I think, but I am sure that you all can do it, because you are all very gifted and talented haiku poets. Are you ready?

Let me give the three parts of this "revise that haiku ... hineri" challenge:

1. Revise the both haiku;
2. Create a "fusion"-haiku with the revised versions;
3. Compose a Troiku with your "fusion"-haiku.

cup-shaped flower (Drymocallis Convallaria)

Here are the haiku including the background. (Taken from: Haiku Volume 3, Summer-Autumn, by R.H. Blyth):

koborete wa tada no mizunari beni no tsuyu

the dew of the rouge flower,
when it is spilled
is simply water

© Chiyo-Ni

The reddish-yellow flower is cup-shaped and hold rain or dew in the same way as the camellia. There is great "virtue" in the expression tada no. If we translate it "only" water, we get the feeling of disillusionment without the insight into the nature of things, into what Carlyle says "the great Fact of existence". The poet, like the great man,

fly as he will, he cannot get out of the awful presence of this Reality. Though all men should forget its truth, and walk in a vain show, he cannot. (Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship)

Lotus

hasu no ha ni kono yo no tsuyu wa magarikeri

on the lotus leaf,
the dew of this world
is distorted

© Issa

This expresses Issa's view of life, his world-view. The dew is of its nature perfect, but when it falls on the leaf of the lotus, it loses its spherical beauty and lies there twisted and deformed. This is the fundamental concept, or rather, intuition of Mahayana Buddhism, the original goodness of man, original, not in time, but in essence, in its nature.

Two wonderful haiku ... and I hope that your "revisions" will be as beautiful. I am looking forward to your responses on this tough challenge. If possible, please share not only your Troiku, but also your "fusion"- haiku and your revisions.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 29th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new weekend meditation later on. For now ... good luck! Enjoy this tough challenge!

Carpe Diem #1545 The Water Fowl (crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. Today I have chosen to give you a new challenge with our special feature "crossroads". I have found a few wonderful autumn haiku written by unknown (classical) haiku poets. Let me tell you what the challenge will be: Create your "fusion"-haiku from the given haiku and than create a Troiku with the "fusion"-haiku. This time I will give you three haiku to create your "fusion" with.

the water-fowl
pecks and shivers
the moon on the waves

© Zuiryu

scooping up the moon
in the wash bassin,
and spilling it

© Ryuho

Moon On The Waves

I kept hanging the moon
on the pine tree, and taking it off,
gazing at it the while

© Hokushi

Three nice haiku of autumn (sub-section: sky and elements) to work with.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 21st at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem#1542 Crickets (modern kigo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. I had a nice weekend, very relaxed, taking time for myself and my loved ones and I enjoyed it a lot. This month we are celebrating the beauty of autumn that's why I choose the theme "the leaves are falling". At the start of this month I gave you an idea what kind of prompts I would use this month e.g. classical and non-classical kigo (seasonwords) and haiku by the five renown haiku-poets (Basho, Issa, Buson, Chiyo-Ni and Shiki), but today (again in honor of Jane Reichhold) I have chosen a modern kigo from "A Dictionary Of Haiku" from the section autumn, subsection animals: crickets.

Cricket (image found on Pinterest)

I have chosen two haiku from that subsection and I love to challenge you to create a 'fusion'-haiku with them, so this is a "crossroads" episode. Here are the two haiku by Jane taht I have chosen:

lightning flash
into the sound of rain
a cricket shrills

nights
where you touched me
a cricket chirps

© Jane Reichhold (taken from "A Dictionary Of Haiku")

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 18th at noon(CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For  now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1538 autumn moon (crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What an awesome month this will become I think. Autumn is my favorite season and the classical haiku poets, like Basho and Shiki, were also "in love" with this season. Today I have a few autumn-haiku for you to work with. As you, maybe, know the Japanese love the moon of autumn. And I can relate to that feeling, because I am a moon lover. To me the moon is an important part of nature. She reflects the light of "father" sun and together they give us thw light we need 24/7.

I will give you a few moon haiku and I am challenging you to create a "fusion" haiku with it in honor of the beauty of the moon.

Here are the haiku to use (with a small background about the haiku):

the moon in the water;
broken and broken again,
still it is there

© Choshu

The astounding persistence, the faithfulness of things, their law-abidingness, is felt in deep contrast to the waywardness of life. Here we have Nature and Destiny; law, the unchanging, and life, the lawless. And yet it is only the reflection of the moon in the water, broken into pieces by some passing wave.

Autumn Moon Viewing (Tsukimi)

rain over the autumn moon:
beneath the window,
chestnuts pattering down

© Usen

There is a well-known verse of In Memoriam which resembles this but with an added subjective element that gives weight, but not necessarily depth:

Calm is the morn without a sound,
Calm as to suit a calmer grief,
And only thro the faded leaf
The chestnut pattering to the ground.

Two beauties to work with I think. By the way the background added by the haiku I have taken from Haiku Volume 3 by R.H. Blyth. I hope the background will be helpful to create your "fusion"-haiku as we do in our special "crossroads" feature.

Here is my "fusion":

after the storm
chestnuts shimmer
in the moonlight

© Chèvrefeuille.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 12th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1534 Yaha ... one of Basho's ten greatest disciples (crossroads)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the penultimate episode of this month in which we celebrated our 6th anniversary. It was a really nice month, a festive month I think. All our themes / prompts followed the alphabet and today we arrived at the letter Y and Z.

As you all know I see Basho as my sensei, my master, but in his life (1644-1694) Basho had several disciples. Some sources say more than 1000 disciples, but he had ten disciples he appreciated the most. One of those disciples was Yaha (or Yaba) who lived from 1662 to 1740. Yaha and Basho were very close and Yaha, for sure, loved his master very much.

Yaha (or Yaba)

I had to search the Internet to find a few of his haiku to inspire you and I have found a few beauties. I love to share them here:

asajimo ya shi no sune omou yuki no kure

morning frost -
I think of the shins of my master
on a night with snow

chikara na ya hiza o kakaete fuyugomori

no strength left -
I wrap my arms around my knees
in winter solitude

© Yaha

Yaha was a master in using the Karumi-style as invented by Basho. In a letter Basho wrote to Yaha he writes:

. uguisu ya mochi ni fun suru en no saki . 

Ah! the uguisu

Pooped on the rice-cakes

On the verandah. 

© Basho

The master’s new poetic ideal in this poem had a deep impact on his disciples, as Yaba wrote:

[...] "I am utterly impressed by the exceptionally wonderful combination of the warbler and the rice cake. I don’t think one can find any other verse like this. The effect cannot be achieved without the words “excreting on a rice cake.” 

The juxtaposition is so magically marvelous that it can only be compared to the masterpiece of the Natural. There may be more combinations like the warbler and rice cake later, but we will never see a line like “excreting on a rice cake.” In these words lies the soul of the poem." [...]

Uguisu (Bush Warbler)

From that same letter Yaha wrote in response of Basho's letter I have taken the above two haiku, in each of them I think you can find the Karumi-style.

The task for today is to create a fusion-haiku from the both haiku by Yaha, so this penultimate episode is a "crossroad" episode.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 7th at noon (CET). I will publish our last episode of our celebration, the letter Z, immediately hereafter.