Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is the place to be if you like to write and share Japanese poetry forms like haiku and tanka. It’s a warmhearted family of haiku poets created by Chèvrefeuille, a Dutch haiku poet. Japanese poetry is the poetry of nature and it gives an impression of a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water. ++ ALL WORKS PUBLISHED ARE COPYRIGHTED AND THE RIGHTS BELONG TO THE AUTHORS ++ !!! Anonymous comments will be seen as SPAM !!!
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
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
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!
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
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)
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).
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
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
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
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.
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!
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
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").
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":
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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):
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!
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
