Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,
What a delicious day it was yesterday. You've shared wonderful haiku inspired on the haiku by Onitsura and it was really a joy to read them. Early Spring days (March 1st - March 10th) are closing in and today we are going a step closer to the mid-Spring kigo with Neko no Koi (cats in love). Cats in love is a early Spring kigo, but that's as the classical Japanese haiku master thought. Cats aren't always in love in Spring, they can be in love whole year through, but ... well it's a classical kigo for early Spring.
The cat, with no further explanation, is man's best friend during the whole year. There are however seasonal events in a cat's life that come as a kigo. Let us look at them.
love-season for cats, neko no koi 猫の恋、
koi neko 恋猫cat in heat, cats mate,
neko sakaru 猫さかるcat in spring,
haru no neko 春の猫（はるのねこ）philandering cat,
ukare neko 浮かれ猫 "cats walking to their lovers",
kayou neko 通う猫（かようねこ）
koi neko 恋猫cat in heat, cats mate,
neko sakaru 猫さかるcat in spring,
haru no neko 春の猫（はるのねこ）philandering cat,
ukare neko 浮かれ猫 "cats walking to their lovers",
kayou neko 通う猫（かようねこ）
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| Credits: Cats in Love |
What a nice picture of 'cats in love' (neko no koi), it's a joy to see how animals show their love to each other. And I think it's a grateful topic to write haiku about. I hadn't enough inspiration today so I have chosen to share an older haiku on 'cats in love'.
These were inspired on a haiku by Matsuo Basho which I will share with you here after.
full moon
the tomcat washes its head
female cats hunt
female cats hunt
over the fence
she creeps, cat in heat,
looking for love
The inspirational haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was:
neko no koi yamu toki neya no oboro zuki
cats in love
when they stop in my bedroom
a hazy moon when they stop in my bedroom
You can see our prompt for today (Neko no Koi) in the first line of this verse by Basho. Well ... I hope that you enjoyed this episode of Carpe Diem and I am looking forward to your posts. Have fun, be creative and share your haiku with Carpe Diem.
This prompt will stay on 'till March 8th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will share our new episode, Shitamoe (sprouting grasses and forbs), later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).
