Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge September 2018 Chained Together III (17) Without Blossom

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend and that this weekend was a source of inspiration for you all of course. I have had a nice easy going weekend at home. The weather wasn't great so the most hours of this weekend I was inside my home. That gave me time to contemplate about new features here at CDHK and about our 6th anniversary next month. One of the new features I have already created is "Basho's School At Carpe Diem Haiku Kai". In this new feature we will explore the principals, rules, ideas and so on of Basho's School of Haiku. I hope to publish the first episode of this new feature later on this week.

credits

Okay ... back to today's episode of our TRC month Chained Together III. For this episode I have another Hineri task for you all, so that means this TRC episode you have to create the first stanza of three lines instead of the second stanza of two lines. This time I have chosen a quote by Khalil Gibran that I have re-done into the two lined stanza.

Life without love is like a tree
without blossoms or fruit.

© Khalil Gibran (Re-done into two lines by Chèvrefeuille)

A nice second stanza I would say and I hope it will inspire you to create the first (three-lined) stanza to make this Tan Renga complete.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 30th at noon (CEST. I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1028 sadness

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

In this time in which sadness was part of our haiku community, because of the death of Jane Reichhold, the Queen of haiku and tanka, I have a quote by Khalil Gibran in which sadness is mentioned. Not to make you sad again, but just to point you to the loss of Jane.

[...] "Sadness is but a wall between two gardens." [...] Khalil Gibran

Khalil Gibran says it in a beautiful way how sad it is to see a wall between two gardens? Not sharing the beauty together. And that's really sad. Here at CDHK we try to share beauty with each other and I know you all will try that also for this prompt.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 23rd at noon (CET). Be creative and inspired.

Carpe Diem #914 Time

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I say it often "lack of time", "time is not at my side" and more likely. In this episode we will look at "time" as part of the senses.

Introduction

Maybe you can remember that we had a month with quotes from Khalil Gibran's "Sand and Foam". In one of the episodes I spoke about "time". As I was preparing this episode another nice piece of poetry came in mind, also by Khalil Gibran. I love to share that poem here with you all.

And an astronomer said, "Master, what of Time?"
And he answered:
You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.
You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.
Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.
Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness,
And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.
And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.
Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless?
And yet who does not feel that very love, though boundless, encompassed within the centre of his being, and moving not form love thought to love thought, nor from love deeds to other love deeds? And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless?
But if in you thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons,
And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.

© Khalil Gibran

Time

changing tides
my restlessness has gone
time is at my side

© Chèvrefeuille

Hamish on time

Sense of time is said to be the most cultural of all senses. A Brazilian's sense of time is completely different from say, a Swiss's sense of time, and in fact closer to the culture of the Qatari, for example. Some of us always arrive early, and have an innate sense of what time it is. Others do not have a good sense of time, and anyway come from a culture where the notion of time is not given the same values.

Maybe say it is never too late, for example, while the saying in Switzerland is it is never too early. If you invite a Finnish person to your house at say 6:00 pm, he or she is likely to turn up at 5:30 pm, a dire insult for the French, who make a point of being half an hour late, which is altogether too optimistic for a Brazilian or Gulf Arab.

While the Swiss or Finnish may have a well-developed notion or sense of time, other nations place emphasis on developing other senses in society, like the tactile sense among people of the Mediterranean. In fact most Europeans like to arrive on time, even if not all their trains do. The Japanese are also innate time-keepers, though Thai people are much more approximate, and do not have the same sense  of time as their Asian counterparts.

The goal is to bring "time" as a sense into your haiku or try to create a haiku (tanka or other Japanese poetry form) in which you try to catch "time".

Credits: Strings of Time

My response

Time ... to me isn't that important. I live with the day and (of course) I am on time at work, but that's all to say about me according to time. Time isn't always at my side, but that's my problem and not that of others.
I often feel ashamed as I am not on time with publishing the episodes here at CDHK, but ... well that's me.

I am a wanderer, a vagabond, a nomad ... time is not important to me ... when the first sunbeams caress the earth I rise from my bed ... the day goes by ... and as the sky becomes dark and the stars are visible in their deep blue background of the universe ... it's time to go to sleep. That's my day.

I have tried to catch that in a haiku, not a new one, but I think it fits the idea of time very well.

wandering along the sea
in the footprints left an oyster
shimmering of a pearl

© Chèvrefeuille

And ... I just had to write an all new one:

first sunlight
the whole day birds praise
'til the night falls

© Chèvrefeuille

strings of time
pulling every day again
becoming grey

© Chèvrefeuille

(inspired on the above image)

Take your time ... meditate on time ... feel time, see time, hear time, taste time and ... touch time in your haiku.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until February 10th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our next episode, a new CD Special by Hamish, our featured haiku poet, later on.

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 #550, beggar

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This is it ... the last episode of August. We have read a wonderful little book by Khalil Gibran and it was a joy to make this month for you all. I have read wonderful haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka and haibun inspired on "Sand and Foam" written by Khalil Gibran. This month started with the first 'verse' of "Sand and Foam".

I am forever walking upon these shores,

Betwixt the sand and the foam,

The high tide will erase my foot-prints,

And the wind will blow away the foam.

But the sea and the shore will remain 

Forever.

And I will end with it too. We all have left our footprints in our haiku on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, those footprints we will be there forever, they will not be erased ... not by the high-tide, not by the wind, not by the rain and not by the hands of people. They will be here forever. We can look back at them and we can read them again. Those footprints will be there forever .... and I thank you all for that.

Credits: Arigato (Thank You) calligraphy by Nao

Ok ... back to our prompt for today, beggar, which is based on the following 'verse' by Khalil: 

[...] "We are all beggars at the gate of the temple, and each one of us receives his share of the bounty of the King when he enters the temple, and when he goes out. But we are all jealous of one another, which is another way of belittling the King". [...]

As I was preparing this last episode for August a episode of Carpe Diem "Sparkling Stars" came in mind in which I used a haiku by Kikaku "the beggar":

the beggar!

he has Heaven and Earth,

for his summer clothes

© Kikaku

And to share a few other haiku on 'beggar' I have chosen for a few haiku by Issa.

kimi ga yo wa kojiki no ie mo nobori kana

Great Japan!
even a beggar's house
has a summer banner

kiji naite ume ni kojiki no yo nari keri

pheasant crying--
it's a plum blossom-filled
beggar's world now!

hatsu yuki ya asaebisu suru kado kojiki

first snowfall--
early morning at my gate
a beggar

Issa has written quit a lot of haiku about beggars, maybe he felt in the same way he is a beggar and it fits his way of life. Issa was a devoted monk of Amida Buddha and he was strong in his belief and saw only the good in people. Of course in ancient Japan (and maybe in modern Japan too) every-one had a kind of compassion with other people and they honored all religious people, like priests and monks, and they shared with them to keep the spirits happy. Hoping to once enter Nirvana.

at the temple gate

I bow in front of beggars

honoring their spirit

© Chèvrefeuille

beggar's bowl,

chased by the autumn wind,

enters the temple

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... this is it ... the last episode of August. I hope you did like this Carpe Diem Haiku Kai month and I hope you all are looking forward to our next month. At least I am looking forward to it. September will be a month with modern kigo (seasonwords) for Autumn based on Jane Reichhold's "Dictionary of Haiku" and we will visit the mind of Francis of Assisi by seeking inspiration in his words ... I hope you all will come along with me to enter this new month of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 2nd at noon (CET). I will publish our next episode, our first modern kigo for autumn, abandoned, later on.

!! I will publish our new "Sparkling Stars"- episode tomorrow !!

Carpe Diem #549, Dreams

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We all have dreams, our prompt for today. Once I had a dream to become an Oncology-nurse as I am now. Once I had a dream to write and publish a novel. Well ... I did. I wrote two novels and the first novel I wrote is now being translated in to English and will be set on the market in the USA. Once I had a dream to become wellknown with my poetry, my passion, haiku and that also became true. In 2012 I started this daily haiku-meme and it's still there and I think Carpe Diem Haiku Kai has become a great opportunity for haiku-poets around the globe to write and share their haiku with the world.
You also will have dreams. Tell us something about it in your post for today's prompt. Do you have dreams which haven't come true? I have another dream. I hope to be your host at Carpe Diem for a long time, at least for the next three years so that I can celebrate our first lustrum in October 2017 .... we will see if Carpe Diem will become five years ...

Khalil Gibran had for sure dreams too, did he fullfill his dreams ... I don't know, but I think he did. In his "Sand and Foam" we can read several 'verses' about dreams and I love to share a few of them here for your inspiration.

[...] "How can I lose faith in the justice of life, when the dreams of those who sleep upon feathers are not more beautiful than the dreams of those who sleep upon the earth?" [...]

[...] "The flowers of spring are winter’s dreams related at the breakfast table of the angels". [...]

[...] "I would not be the least among men with dreams and the desire to fulfill them, rather than the greatest with no dreams and no desires".[...]

Sakura in full bloom

Wonderful 'verses', that second is one of my favorites and I think close to our beloved haiku. Isn't it wonderful to have dreams? And isn't it wonderful to see them become true?

breakfast with angels

as spring is starting after the cold -

flowering trees

© Chèvrefeuille

Wouldn't that be awesome? To have breakfast with angels while we look down on Earth seeing how nature is starting to become green again and see the flowers bloom in all colors? Imagine it ...

after the dark winter

cherry trees are blooming again

Ah! what a joy!

© Chèvrefeuille

I hope this post inspires you to write new haiku. This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until September 1st at noon (CET). I will post our next episode, the last of this wonderful month, beggar, later on. By the way I have published our new prompt-list for September you can find it HERE. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #548, Traveler

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another day to discover Khalil's "Sand and Foam" and today we will see a total different meaning of what I am always write in my greeting here, traveler(s). At first I thought of the gipsies, who call them self 'travelers' so my first focus is on them.

Travellers (or Travelers) have a nomadic life in their history. Nowadays they stay on one place, but once it was a tarveling group of people, that's why they call them self 'travellers'. They had all mobile houses and were tracking from the one place to the other ... There are travelers all over the world, but mainly this post is about the Irish travelers.

Credits: Travelers

The historical origins of Irish Travellers as an ethnic group has been a subject of academic and popular debate. Such discussions have been difficult as Irish Travellers left no written records of their own. They may be of Romani extraction, although this theory is disputed by some, and theories of pre-Celt origin also exist. Ten percent of the Gammon language comes from Romani, however the majority of its words derive from Celtic.
In 2011 an analysis of DNA from 40 Travellers was undertaken at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin and the University of Edinburgh. The study provided evidence that Irish Travellers are a distinct Irish ethnic minority, who separated from the settled Irish community at least 1000 years ago; the claim was made that they are distinct from the settled community as Icelanders are from Norwegians. Even though all families claim ancient origins, not all families of Irish Travellers date back to the same point in time; some families adopted Traveller customs centuries ago, while others did so more recently. It is unclear how many Irish Travellers would be included in this distinct ethnic group at least from a genetic perspective.
There has been a wide range of theories speculating their origins such as that they were descended from those Irish who were made homeless by Oliver Cromwell's military campaign in Ireland in the 1650s, or possibly from the people made homeless in the 1840s famine due to eviction, or the descendants of aristocratic nomads the Clan Murtagh O'Connors in the Late Middle Ages. Their nomadism was based on cattle-herds or creaghts. (Source: Wikipedia)

 

Credits: Travellers (2)

A wonderful culture I think and they have evolved during the decades ... and they are followed in several TV-shows (at least here in The Netherlands).

Ok ... back to our prompt, traveler, for today. I think you have already understand that 'traveler' is the prompt for today. Traveling as in traveling is going away for a vacation or short trip, or traveling to work. But traveling can also mean that we are on a journey into ourselves ... on the route to our Inner Self and that's were Khalil's 'verse' is about.

 

[...] "A traveler am I and a navigator, and every day I discover a new region within my soul". [...]

And this is so true, as you all know we are busy with our Carpe Diem Vision Quest and that quest is very close to this 'verse' by Khalil. And I hope this 'verse' will inspire you to travel deeper into your self seeking for the Inner Self.

a new journey

along the roads of God's Creation

seeking the truth within

seeking the truth within

the road like the Honeysuckle (*) bush

a new journey

© Chèvrefeuille

(*) Honeysuckle's deeper meaning is "searching for the Inner Self".

Honeysuckle (the English for my pseudonym Chèvrefeuille)

 

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 30th at noon (CET). I will post our next episode, our last CD Special, a haiku by Jim Kacian, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #547, Flame

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

everlasting flame
burns for those who are unknown
our saviors

© Chèvrefeuille

Flame is our prompt for today and this haiku/senryu was the first thing which came in mind. I remembered the  "Unknown Soldier" and I recall that I have written about him earlier on my personal weblog Chèvrefeuille's Haiku-blog ...

Here is that haiku:

unknown soldier

slaughtered on the battlefield
no more dreaming

© Chèvrefeuille

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Moscow

The everlasting flame? Is that the same flame about which the verse by Khalil Gibran is? Let us look at that verse.

[...] "I am the flame and I am the dry bush, and one part of me consumes the other part". [...]

As we look at this verse, we can say it's not about the "everlasting flame". I think it's more like the "Burning Bush" which Moses encountered in the time before the great Exodus of God's People. Well ... I think I leave it to your imagination this time and I hope this (small) post will inspire you to write new haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka or haibun.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 28th at noon (CET). I will publish our new post, a new GW-post, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #546, Silence

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

the silence deepens
as the night falls like a blanket
upon a white world

© Chèvrefeuille

Just an impromptu-verse which found me as I started to prepare this episode of our daily haiku-meme. It's a haiku straight from the heart ... and it's about late autumn or winter. Why a winter haiku came up? I don't know. It's still summer here in The Netherlands, but it feels like autumn ... a lot of wind and rain and we even have had the heater on a few days ago. It felt cold and moist inside our home, because of all the rain we have had.

The haiku above was maybe triggered by our prompt for today, silence, based on Khalil's "Sand and Foam". He has a few beautiful 'verses' about silence and they will inspire you I think. Here they are:

[...] "A great singer is he who sings our silences". [...]

[...] "I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers". [...]

[...] "The silence of the envious is too noisy". [...]

Credits: Silence

What is silence? Is it that nice feeling of no noise at all? Or is it that sweet sound of an early morning concert by birds? Or the babbling brook? Or maybe that sweet sound of the rustling wind through the leaves? Silence can be very still, but I like the silence of a babbling brook for example.

How would you describe silence?

the babbling brook

makes me drowsy and happy -

a late summer night

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... let the silence of your soul inspire you to write wonderful, silent haiku.

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 27th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, flame, later on.

Carpe Diem #545, Tolerance

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

After our little side-walk to Jim Kacian's wonderful haiku of yesterday it's time again for a new prompt based on Khalil Gibran's "Sand and Foam". Today that prompt is Tolerance or accepting how the other is. All around the globe tolerance has to be strong, but ... that's not true as you all will know. In my opinion we have to tolerate a lot, but not everything ... we don't have to tolerate that groups are killing each other, because of their e.g. different religions or sexuality.

Khalil Gibran says in his "Sand and Foam" the following about tolerance:

[...] " Tolerance is love sick with the sickness of haughtiness". [...]

I had to look for the translation of 'haughtiness', to understand what he says here and I think he said it right. Tolerance is like that. Tolerance is based on haughtiness and that makes it that dangerous as it is. Tolerance is great, but we don't have to tolerate everything.

Melting Snow

melting snow
the tears of a child
crystal truth

© Chèvrefeuille

Not a strong senryu, but I think it's true. Tolerance is great, but we have to 'use' it like children. As we grow older, the child within us dies ... we loose that clear plain innocence ... in which tolerance was 100%. As children we accept all and everything as it is, growing older, and becoming wiser, that acceptation, that tolerance is becoming smaller.

It wasn't easy to write this post, because I am a human being which stands in his life out of an idea of unconditional love for all and everything ... and my tolerance is great, but as I look to the world in which we live ... even my tolerance becomes smaller. I am losing my Inner Child and that makes me sad sometimes.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 27th at noon (CET). I will try to post our new episode, silence, later on.

 

Carpe Diem #544, Mask/Masque

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's an awesome month and I have read wonderful haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka and haibun in response of Khalil Gibran. And of course there was yesterday the GW-post by Jen ... really a great GW-post and I have read beautiful responses on her GW-post ... I ... however haven't written in response of that GW-post. Maybe a lack of inspiration, but .... well I think that I not always have to write a haiku myself in response of our posts here. Of course I try, but ...

Credits: Masque Venise

Today our prompt is Mask/Masque and it's a wonderful prompt I think. Aren't we all sometimes wearing a mask? It's not a shame to wear a mask, there is not always need to be yourself, sometimes it can be really uplifting to be someone else. In my dreams for example I am sometimes a king, or a master-poet, and in real life I am sometimes, to protect myself, someone else without a mask by the way, but on a distance ... this happens sometimes as I have to tell patients about their illness. Than I have to be professional. Than it is not always possible to be close to my patients ... their emotions are at that moment mostly very strong and of course I feel that, as if my throat is squeezed, but I cannot let my tears go at that moment ... my tears are coming later as I am talking with the patient after that first talk. Than I have to let go my mask and show my patients what I feel .... not easy, but sharing their emotions, weeping together is a relief and makes my work that beautiful.

[...] "Even the masks of life are masks of deeper mystery". [...]

Credits: Masque Venise

unmasking
look into the world -
tears flow

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 24th at noon. I will try to post our new episode, our fourth haiku by Jim Kacian, our featured haiku-poet, later on. For now have fun!

Carpe Diem #543, Wall

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Yesterday I was preparing an episode for our "Tackle It Tuesday" weblog on Wordpress, it was the episode for next week and it was about sincerity. In that episode I mention the wall which we all have around us and which sometimes stands in our way to be sincere. Maybe that wall is also the wall about which Khalil Gibran says the following:

[...] "After all this is not a bad prison; but I do not like this wall between my cell and the next prisoner’s cell; Yet I assure you that I do not wish to reproach the warder not the Builder of the prison".[...]

[...] "Sadness is but a wall between two gardens". [...]

Can we tear down those walls? Can we be that powerful to tear down the walls around us to become finally free? Free to be sincere towards the other? I think so, but it's not easy I think. As I remember the 9/11 attacks several years ago, than I can understand that it's not easy to be sincere. Those terrorists were all under the spell of one aggressor and that aggressor, for sure, doesn't speak for all those muslim brothers and sisters. So don't be afraid to be sincere, be respectful towards the other notwithstanding what others did.

Credits: Quote Khalil Gibran

We have to tear down those walls. If we can do that, we will all be free, we will be all part of a world wide revival of love and peace ... finally world peace will become true. Call me a dreamer or a nutcase, but I think that love can tear down walls which split humanity in several parts. Let us respect the other notwithstanding his/her religion, spiritual ideas, sexuality and so on ... we are all the same, of course we are all unique beings, but we are all human.

tearing down the walls

giving room to wild flowers

to color the earth

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 23rd at noon (CET). I will try to post our new episode, masque/mask, later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #542, Tapestry

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I have to apologize to you all. Why? Well let me tell you. As I was preparing our prompt-list for this month I was reading the Dutch version of “Sand and Foam” and while reading it I ran into wonderful prompts for example, in Dutch “kleed” which means “to dress”. I, however, translated it into ‘tapestry’, our prompt for today. So for today I sought the whole book “Sand and Foam” through, but (of course) couldn’t find “tapestry” in it, because I had translated it in the wrong way.
But … I have decided to use “tapestry” for our prompt today and I take the opportunity to lift a tip of the veil to give you all a look inside my personal philosophy. 

Credits: Maximo Laura (Tapestry artist)

 Life is like a tapestry

The creation of a tapestry starts at the beginning with an empty weaving loom. The weaver sits in front of it and meditates and contemplates about what he/she would like to create. Is it just a piece of art-work or does it have meaning? It doesn’t really matter. The weaving technique is the same (I think), but the result can be so much different. After he/she has decided what to make he/she will make a sketch and decides which colours, which material and which technique will be used.
Than he/she starts to create his/her tapestry and while looking at that process one can see how the tapestry becomes as was the idea … the colours are coming together making patterns, creatures, flowers and so on are becoming real … at the end the weaver sits back looks at his/her work and will smile, maybe will applaud and yell “eureka!” Another wonderful tapestry has been created and can be sold … or just put on the wall at their home. 

Credits: Eyes On Nature (In Textile-Art)

What has this to do with that tip of the veil to give a look inside my personal philosophy? Well … I will tell you.

I think that our lives can be compared with a tapestry. As we are born the Weaver (God or Higher Self) starts his work with us. He looks at us and sees our future already, but he doesn’t know how our path would be going … which decisions we make … say ‘karma’ … The Weaver cannot interfere in our life. We are making our own mistakes, making the wrong decisions and so on. But … the Weaver has an idea about our lives. He has a design in mind for us and that design he starts weaving on his weaving loom.

tapestry of life
flamboyant colours all over -
awakening

© Chèvrefeuille

Our life is a tapestry and in every tapestry there are little faults or mistakes, but those faults and mistakes have their charm also, they make the tapestry unique … our lives are unique … we all have goals in our lives and we all hope to reach those goals. Sometimes such a goal is in reach, but it can also be out reach … Than we have to re-design our goals and start all over again with our path … In our life we will come across various paths, ways, waters, countries and crossroads … on every crossroad we have to decide which way we will go … all those choices are part of the design the Weaver has in mind for his tapestry, for us. 

Credits: Pheasants (Japanese Tapestry-Art)

At the end of our lives, our loved ones will look at our tapestry and the Weaver looks at it also. Our loved ones and the Weaver are in my opinion the same entity, the same energy. Because those who are around us, living as well as deceased, are co-workers of the Weaver. I believe that we all are planted in the right surroundings, in the right families, in the right countries and in the threads of the tapestry of life.

tears in my eyes
as I look at my tapestry -
it was great!

© Chèvrefeuille

Well … call me a nutcase or a philosopher, but it’s just my idea about life. And I think it sounds great. Would be awesome to look at that life-tapestry at the end of my life and see what life has done to me … I think I would be proud, I would cry of happiness … because … I lived my life as I had planned.

I hope you did like this post and I hope you will forgive me that I have told you a little bit more about my personal life and philosophy. I had to come up with something ... (smiles), because of my wrong translation as mentioned above.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 21st at noon. I will try to post our new episode, our 22nd episode of Ghost Writer, later on.

Carpe Diem #541, Inner Self (Solitude)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you did enjoy the CD-Special by Jim Kacian and that it inspired you to write an all new haiku or two (or more maybe). I don't give you a lot of time to let go of Jim Kacian, because our new prompt is already ahead of us.
We are still reading "Sand & Foam" by Khalil Gibran and that is still a joy. Every episode needs preparation and some research ... so it's not an easy task to create it. Today our prompt is Inner Self and I think this idea "Inner Self" has been earlier in our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai history. To me it sounds that familiar, so I sought out our CDHK history and ran into several posts in which I mentioned "Inner Self". E.g. last year we had a whole month of prompts about the Tarot (May 2013) and in our first anniversary month (October 2013) we had a wonderful post about the Vision Quest provided by Maggie Grace. You can find that post HERE. It's a really nice post and worth reading it.
For today's prompt I have chosen a nice quote from "Sand & Foam":

[...] "Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth". [...]

Credits: In The Enchanted Forest J.Chanders (Vision Quest)

I think this 'verse' is a deeper thought to the idea of the Inner Self. It's my thought that we can only find our Inner Self by meditating and contemplating and I have really once have done a Vision Quest to find my Deeper Inner Self ... I remember that it wasn't a joy to look at myself than, I was on the bad trail to the occult and it wasn't easy to go back ... I finally succeeded by asking for help and writing haiku and a novel (my first ever published, now being translated into English in the US) to get away from the occult ... It felt great to go back to the right trail and I found my Inner Strenght and my Inner Self ... it has made me whom I am now.

deep down inside
hiding in the deeper layers of the soul
divine inspiration

© Chèvrefeuille

Another haiku/senryu ispired on this post:

scent of incense
guiding me through the depths of my soul -
showing the light

© Chèvrefeuille 

Credits: Scent of Incense

Finding the Inner Self is an everlasting task ... not an easy task, but it always will bring you joy and peace. To learn to know yourself can be anxious, but it's a path we all have to go.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 20th at noon (CET). I will (try to) post our new episode, tapestry, later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.

Carpe Diem #540, Wings

Dear haijin, visitors and travelers,

!! This post will be earlier than I normally do, because of being in the nightshift !!

The days are flying away, time isn't at our side, time flies ... and so we are already halfway our Khalil Gibran month. This month we are reading "Sand and Foam" by Gibran. A nice little book full of wonderful aphorisms (or as I call them 'verses') about his thoughts.
Today we are seeking for the sky ... our prompt is wings and I have selected a few wonderful 'verses' by Khalil for your inspiration. This month is in a way a spiritual revelation and all the prompts are pointing us a new path ... a path full of ancient knowledge, full of love and happiness ... a new path to become Enlightened.
Wings ... which wings are meant here? Is he talking about the wings of birds, the wings of angels or is he pointing towards the wings of time? We will see. Here are the 'verses' by Khalil which I have selected for your inspiration.

[...] "How heedless you are when you would have men fly with your wings and you cannot even give them a feather". [...]

[...] "Seven centuries ago seven white doves rose from a deep valley flying to the snow-white summit of the mountain. One of the seven men who watched the flight said, "I see a black spot on the wing of the seventh dove". "Today the people in that valley tell of seven black doves who flew to the summit of the snowy mountain". [...]

[...] "They say to me, "A bird in the hand is worth ten in the bush." But I say, "A bird and a feather in the bush is worth more than ten birds in the hand." Your seeking after that feather is life with winged feet; nay, it is life itself". [...]

Credits: Wings

Wings ... are wonderful. How many a times you have asked yourself "If I had wings, I would fly away". Sometimes in my dreams I have wings and as I fly above the Earth, free as a bird, I see the beauty of our planet. If I had wings I would fly to every place on Earth I wish to see. I would fly to Japan to see this wonderful country in which haiku has its roots ... If I had wings and I could fly back into time, like a time-traveler, I would be flying back to the time in which Basho lived. I would try to become a disciple of him to make my haiku even better and more beautiful ... if I could fly, if I had wings ...
Unfortunately I have no wings, I cannot fly to ancient Japan ... so I have to learn from the master from the scriptures, stories and haiku, how to write haiku and become a better haiku-poet ... 
We are all disciples of the classic haiku-poets. Some will see Basho as their master others maybe see Chiyo-Ni as their master ... As you all know I see Basho as my master, but ... which haiku-poet is your master?

Credits: Swan in the faint light of the sunset

spreading their wings
swan couple flies to the Western horizon
seeking for the truth

© Chèvrefeuille

Note: The Japanese say that paradise is in the West. 

on the wings of birds
the faint reflection of the sunset -
the sound of the wind

© Chèvrefeuille

What a wonderful prompt wings is and I am glad that Khalil Gibran has provided it for your and mine inspiration.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 18th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, the third haiku by Jim Kacian, our featured haiku-poet this month, later on.