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 #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 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#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.

Carpe Diem Extra - October 20th 2018 - invitation to participate in a new contest

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Maybe you can remember our collaboration with the FB-Group "My Haiku Pond Academy" last year. We had a contest with Troiku and as you know Celestine Nudanu won that contest. Today "The Haiku Pond Academy" and Carpe Diem Haiku Kai have organized a new contest together. In this new contest you are invited to create a "fusion"-haiku from two given haiku.

You all are invited to participate in this new contest, here is the URL of this new contest:

Fusion-ku

Namasté,

Chèvrefeuille, your host

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #43 Troiku Challenge: My Lucky Tea

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday July 29th at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We have had a wonderful week here at CDHK and now we can take a rest ... it's time for a new weekend meditation. This weekend I have chosen for a Troiku Challenge. Maybe you can remember what that means. I will give you two haiku to work with. First you have to create a so called "fusion"-haiku and second ... with that "fusion"-haiku you have to create a Troiku. Troiku is a nice creative way of working with haiku that I invented back in 2012. More on Troiku you can find above in the menu.

For this Troiku Weekend-Meditation I have chosen two haiku by Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828), one of the five greatest haiku poets ever. His haiku are k niwn for the simple choice of words, but also for it's emotions. Issa had a tough life in which he had to deal with several very sad things. For example his children died on a very young age.

Mount Fuji (Japan, Honshu Island)

Here are the haiku to work with:

tonight's moon--
how many mountains resemble
the ones back home?

going outside
plum blossoms dive in...
my lucky tea

© Kobayashi Issa (Tr. David G. Lanoue)

By the way "lucky tea" is the first cup of tea on New Year's Day.

Two beauties by Issa. I hope these will awaken your muse and will inspire you to create first a "fusion"-haiku and than a Troiku with your "fusion"-haiku. Enjoy your weekend.

This weekend meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday July 29th at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until August 5th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new regular episode around that same time. For now .... have fun!

Carpe Diem Crossroads #13 chilly coolness

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our CDHK feature "Crossroads", the feature in which I challenge you to create a so called "fusion"-haiku from two haiku and to create a Troiku with your "fusion"-haiku. More on Troiku you can find above in the menu.

For this episode I have returned to the beautiful haiku by (my sensei) Matsuo Basho. I have chosen two nice haiku created by him to work with. I have taken these two haiku from Jane Reichhold's "Basho, the complete haiku".

feet on the wall (image found on Pinterest)

Here are your two haiku to work with:

chilly coolness
my feet on the wall
for a midday nap

the color of wind
planted artlessly
in a garden of reeds

© Matsuo Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

A nice challenge I think.

This "crossroads" episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 18th at noon (CEST). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #39 Troiku Challenge "a distant mountain"

!!! Open for your submissions next Sunday July 1st 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 write and share Japanese poetry. Every weekend I have a wonderful challenge for you. You can respond on Sunday July 1st at 7:00 PM (CEST), so you have time to meditate and contemplate on the given challenge before responding.

This weekend I love to challenge you again with a Troiku Challenge. In this Troiku Challenge you have to create first a so called "fusion"-haiku and than you have to create a Troiku (more on Troiku you can find in the menu above) with your "fusion"-haiku.

Paulownia Tree

For this Troiku Challenge I have chosen two haiku by Takahama Kyoshi (1874–1959) to work with. Kyoshi is not a renown haiku poet, but he has written wonderful haiku. (You can find more of his haiku HERE).

a distant mountain
seen in the sunlight:
a desolate field

a leaf of a paulownia tree
has fallen
in the sunlight

© Takahama Kyoshi (Tr. Katsuya Hiromoto)

Two nice haiku. Not easy to work with I think, but ... I think you can do it. Create a "fusion"-haiku from these two haiku and than create a Troiku with your "fusion"-haiku.

Have a great weekend and remember ... this episode is open for your submissions next Sunday July 1st at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until July 8th at noon (CEST). Have a great weekend.

Carpe Diem Crossroads #12 young birds are raised

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you all can see I have changed the logo of this Crossroads feature. The original image I used was by a photographer Martin Liebermann and he has asked me to remove the image from Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. Of course I am sad that I had to change the logo of our Crossroads feature, but I understand the question by mr. Liebermann. I will search for another image to use as a logo for Crossroads, but for now I have changed it to the above shown logo.

For this episode of Carpe Diem Crossroads I have another nice set of haiku for you to work with, but let me explain the task again for Crossroads. The task is to create a so called "fusion"-haiku from the given haiku. With that task you create a symbiosis bewteen the two haiku. Every set of haiku used here in Crossroads are always by the same haiku poet, because I don't think it's possible to create a "fusion"-haiku from two haiku by two different haiku poets.

This episode I have chosen two haiku written by Ryokan (1758-1831). Let me tell you a little bit about him:

Ryokan was born in 1758, the first son in a noble family in Izumozaki in the Echigo District. He entered the priesthood at the age of 18 and was given the Buddhist name "Ryokan" when he was 22 years old. He kept searching for the ultimate truths through his life. Leaning the Chinese classics and poetry at Entsu Temple of the Soto Sect in Tamashima in the Bichu District, he practiced hard asceticism under Priest Kokusen for 20 years. After this, he traveled all over the country on foot and returned to his home village just before the age of 40. He lived at the Gogoan hut in Kokujyo Temple on Mt. Kugami, and then moved down to a thatched hut in Otoko Shrine at the foot of the Mountain. It is said that he enjoyed writing traditional Japanese poetry, Chinese poetry and calligraphy all through his simple, carefree and unselfish life.

Ryokan (painting by Yasuda Yukihiko)

He was also called "Temari-Shonin (The Priest who Plays with a Temari ball)" and was much loved by children, since he often played with a Temari ball (Japanese cotton-wound ball), Ohajiki (small glass counters for playing games) together with children in the mountain village. Much of his poetry and letters which still remain, all of which are full of his sympathy and affection for children, describe his joyful times with children and also reveal his high personal qualities as a man who devoted his life to meditation. Ryokan was a Zen priest, but he never established his own temple, and lived by alms. Instead of preaching, he enjoyed companionship and conversation with many ordinary people. In 1831, he ended his 74-year life as an honest priest respected and loved by all he knew.

Here are the two haiku to work with and create your "fusion"-haiku:

river in winter 
soaring over peaks
an eagle spots its prey

hedge branches 
young birds are raised 
morning snow 

© Ryokan

Eagle

Two nice haiku, but it will not be an easy task to create a "fusion"-haiku with it I think. Of course I have given it a try myself and this is what I came up with:

first snow falls
old birds nest covered with a blanket
the eagle without vision

© Chèvrefeuille

Awesome to wotrk with these two haiku, but for sure it wasn't easy. Now it is up to you my dear Haijin ...

This Crossroads episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 30th at noon (CEST). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #37 Troiku Challenge "Time"

!! Open for your submissions next Sunday June 17th at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Time flies ... I have said that very often here at CDHK, but it is so true. Time slips through our fingers like grains of sand. I remember that I started writing haiku back in the late eighties and than several years later, 2005, I published my first english haiku. And now ... look were we are now. In 2012 I started CDHK to promote the beauty of haiku and later other Japanese poetry forms like tanka and sedoka. We are "running" towards our 6th anniversary and I hope you all will celebrate that we me next October.

Time ... also a prompt we have seen here often e.g. back in January 2017, while we were on our pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, I made an episode about Time (here) or what do you think of this episode written by our friend Hamish Manaqua Gunn back in February 2016 (here).

Okay ... up we go ... no sentimental journey here (smiles). This weekend meditation I love to challenge you again to create a Troiku with a "fusion"-haiku. And this weekend I love to challenge you to create a "fusion"-haiku with the following haiku themed "time":

perpetual snow
reflects the sunlight - 
I dream of a nude beach

© Chèvrefeuille

through tears
cherry blossoms scattered
by the breeze


© Chèvrefeuille

I can almost hear you all think ... what have these haiku to do with time? But I think you can relate to the "time"-theme in these haiku.

The goal? Create a "fusion"-haiku from these two haiku and than use your "fusion"-haiku to create a Troiku with (more on Troiku? above in the menu).

Well .... have a great weekend full of inspiration .... awaken your muses and enjoy creating your once in year masterpiece ...

This weekend-meditation is open for your submissions next Sunday June 17th at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until Sunday June 24th at noon (CEST). Enjoy your weekend!

PS. Do you have ideas for our 6th anniversary in October? Than please let me know.

Carpe Diem's Crossroads #11 "a winter's love"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A few minutes ago I realised that I hadn't published a new "crossroads" episode so I will create one for you right now. I was busy to write a new episode of "Heeding Haiku With ..." for Mindlovemisery's Menagerie about haiku as a "love poem". So Ithought 'I am going to challenge you all with a new "crossroads" episode about LOVE. I ran through the archives of CDHK and ran into a nice set of "love-haiku" written by myself.

I will give you the two "love-haiku" immediately after this: I think (and you all know that) haiku can also be used as a "love poem" like tanka.

torn apart clothes
thrown against a beach pole
a winter's love

bare footed
wandering about the nude beach
in heart of winter

© Chèvrefeuille

love poem (image found on Pinterest)

Well ... I think you all know what the goal is of "crossroads"? You have to create a so called "fusion-haiku", create a new haiku based on the two given haiku.

This "crossroads" episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until June 12th at noon (CEST). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #35 Troiku Challenge "summer solstice"

!!! Open for your submissions next Sunday June 3rd at 7:00 PM (CEST) !!!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the first CDHK weekend-meditation of this month and summer 2018. I have created a new logo for this special weekend feature and I have chosen a few new "challenges". In this first weekend-meditation of June 2018 I have chosen to challenge you to create a Troiku, that creative way of haiku-ing. (more about Troiku above in the menu).

Maybe you can remember one of our last episodes of "crossroads". I challenged you to create a so called "fusion"-haiku from two given haiku and to create a Troiku with your "fusion'-haiku. I was glad to see that you liked that challenge, so that's the reason why I choose "Troiku Challenge" for this weekend-meditation.

I will give you two haiku to create a "fusion"-haiku with and to create a Troiku from that "fusion"-haiku. For this first "Troiku Challenge" I have chosen two haiku created by myself (how immodest).

Shinto Summer Solstice at the Wedded Rocks

between the wedded rocks (*)
the sun rises to her highest throne
summer solstice

mountain stream
the ice has melted - dances in the sun
crystal waterdrops

© Chèvrefeuille

(*) Meoto Iwa, or the Loved one-and-loved one Rocks, are a couple of small rocky stacks in the sea off Futami, Mie, Japan. They are joined by a shimenawa (a heavy rope of rice straw) and are considered sacred by worshippers at the neighbouring Futami Okitama. According to Shinto, the rocks represent the union of the creator of kami, Izanagi and Izanami. The rocks, therefore, celebrate the union in marriage of man and woman. The rope, which weighs over a ton, must be replaced several times a year in a special ceremony. The larger rock, said to be male, has a small torii at its peak.
The best time to see the rocks is at dawn during the summer, when the sun appears to rise between them. Mount Fuji is visible in the distance. At low tide, the rocks are not separated by water.

And now it is up to you to create a "fusion"-haiku and with that "fusion"-haiku a Troiku. Have a wonderful weekend full of inspiration.

This episode is open for your submissions next Sunday June 3rd at 7:00 PM (CEST) and will remain open until June 10th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new regular episode later on. I hope to publish our new prompt-list also later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Crossroads #10 Jane Reichhold's "rainbows of high tide"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As I look back into the not so long ago past of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai than I see how much joy you all have in creating haiku, tanka and other Japanese poetry forms, but I was really surprised to see all your responses on Carpe Diem's Crossroads, our special feature in which you have to create a so called "fusion"-haiku from two given haiku.

This episode of Crossroads I love to challenge you to create a "fusion"-haiku from two haiku by our beloved Jane Reichhold (1937-2016). She was one of our co-hosts and she is still missed dearly. So let's say this Crossroads episode is a small tribute to Jane Reichhold.

Spiritual Rainbow (Sacred Geometry) (image found on Pinterest)

I have chosen two beautiful haiku from her online dictionary of haiku:

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

out of a wave
rainbows of high tide
arching wind

© Jane Reichhold

Two beauties I think to work with ... it is up to you now ...

This Crossroads episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 27th at noon (CEST) ... have fun!

Carpe Diem Crossroads #9 Ozaki Hosai's "on the field"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to bring you a new episode of our "fusion" feature Crossroads. This week I have chosen two nice haiku created by one of the classic haiku poets. For this episode I have chosen two haiku created by Ozaki Hosai. He was one of the haiku poets that embraced the free-haiku movement, like for example Santako Taneda. Ozaki Hosai wrote his haiku only as one-line verses, as is one of the classic ways of writing haiku. The both haiku I have chosen I have "re-done" into the more Western way of three lines.

Ozaki Hōsai (1885 - 1926) was the haigo (haikai pen name) of Ozaki Hideo, a Japanese poet of the late Meiji and Taishō periods of Japan. An alcoholic, Ozaki witnessed the birth of the modern free verse haiku movement. His verses are permeated with loneliness, most likely a result of the isolation, poverty and poor health of his final years.

Ozaki Hosai

Ozaki Hosai has written nice haiku in my opinion, but I think you, my dear haijin, visitors and travelers, can create a wonderful "fusion" haiku with the following haiku by him:

on the field 

where evening has died out, 

my footsteps

the heart 

that seeks something 

I release to the sea

© Ozaki Hosai (revised by Chèvrefeuille)

footprints at the beach (image found on Shutterstock)

As you all (maybe) know the goal is to create a new haiku (only haiku) from the both given haiku or in other words ... to create a "fusion" haiku. I have given it a try too. 

footprints

left in the sand of time

sound of waves

© Chèvrefeuille

And now it is up to you ...

This episode of Carpe Diem Crossroads is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 20th at noon (CEST). Have fun ... !

Carpe Diem Crossroads #8 The First Snow (Kanajo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our special CDHK feature "Crossroads" in which I challenge you to create a new (fusion) haiku from two given haiku. This week I have chosen for a not so well known female haiku poet, Hasegawa Kanajo(1887-1969). She was a contemporary of Shiki and her husband was one of the editors of Shiki's magazine Hototogisu.

Hasegawa Kanajo

Let me give you a brief biography of her:

She was born near Nihonbashi, in the center of Tokyo. She entered the Mitsui Family in 1903 to learn about proper housekeeping and the virtues of a good wife, but could not continue due to a heart disease. In 1909 she married her private English teacher, the haiku poet, who later was known as Hasegawa Rsishi (1888 - 1928), who was a member of Hototogisu.

She begun to write haiku herself and on request of Takahama Kyoshi joined a Woman's Haiku Group.
Shortly after the death of her husband in 1928 her home in Shinjuku burned down and she moved outside to Urawa town, Saitama, where she died of lung infection at the age of 81.

And here are the two haiku to work with. I think her haiku have wonderful and beautiful fragility:

the first snow
on the Mt. Fuji and the round
cloud flows from there

the sound of rain
the clouds on right-side are
with the summer moon

© Hasegawa Kanajo(1887-1969)

the first snow on Mount Fuji (woodblock print)

clouds move away
first snow on Mount Fuji
reflects moon light

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... not a strong "fusion", but I like this haiku inspired on the both haiku by Kanajo. Now it is up to you.

This "Crossroads" episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 9th at noon (CEST). Have fun!

Carpe Diem Crossroads #7 this autumn sky (Sōgi)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Well ... it wasn't really what I wanted to do today, but I have a third post for you today. It is time again for a new episode of our "crossroads" feature, the feature in which I challenge you to create a so called "fusion-haiku" based on two given haiku. Today I have two haiku for you by a not so renown classical haiku poet Sōgi.

Sōgi (1421–1502), was a Japanese poet. He came from a humble family from the province of Kii or Ōmi, and died in Hakone on September 1, 1502. Sōgi was a Zen monk from the Shokokuji temple in Kyoto and he studied poetry, both waka and renga. In his 30's he became a professional renga poet.

During his travels to almost every corner of Japan, he was welcomed by the most powerful political, military and literary figures of his day. He attracted more disciples than any other poet of his generation. After traveling throughout Japan, he returned to Kyoto where he commanded great respect.

Sōgi

He is best-remembered for his renga, wherein two or more poets collaborate to create a poem, by writing alternate stanzas. In Sōgi's day, such renga were typically 100 verses in length. Arising from the court tradition of waka, renga was cultivated by the warrior class as well as by courtiers, and some of the best renga poets, such as Sōgi, were commoners.

Sōgi is considered the greatest master of renga, his two most famous works being "Three Poets at Minase" (Minase sangin hyakuin, 1488) and "Three Poets at Yuyama" (Yuyama sangin hyakuin, 1491).[3] This outstanding poet left more than 90 works (anthologies, diaries, poetic criticisms and manuals, among others). Before his death, he wrote "Sōgi Alone", which mostly includes his memoirs.

Here are the two haiku to create your "fusion-haiku" with:

ah, for coolness,
it rivals the water's depth -
this autumn sky

© Sōgi

And this one, in a translation by myself:

abandoned house
the garden taken over -
butterfly home

© Sōgi (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)

Woodblock print Orchid and Butterflies (image found on Pinterest)

And here is my "fusion-haiku":

in the autumn sky
vague silhouette of a butterfly
first raindrops fall

© Chèvrefeuille

Have fun!

This episode of "crossroads" is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 29th at noon (CEST). See you ....!