Carpe Diem #1633 Wedding

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Kai. As you know I have changed our theme for this month instead of Kumano Kodo it's now A New Route Leaving Kumano Kodo a journey along modern and classical kigo (seasonwords) for spring. Yesterday I started with "desire" taken from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku" and today I have another nice modern kigo for spring also taken from "A Dictionary of Haiku".

Today our modern kigo is "wedding". I can hear you think "why is wedding a modern kigo?" Let me try to explain that. In Nature Religions, like Shinto and Paganism for example, it is not done to marry in the dark part of the year (autumn and winter), but in the light part of the year you can marry. So that's why Jane has chosen to bring "wedding" as a modern kigo for spring.
Ofcourse I don't know what kind of religion Jane belonged to, but what I know ... she was a haiku poet and as you all know haiku is rooted in nature ... so maybe that was Jane's reason to bring "wedding" as a spring kigo.

Pagan Wedding (image found on Pinterest)

Here are a few examples of haiku by Jane Reichhold themed "wedding":

rehearsing vows
in the middle of the night
frogs

honeymooners

boats in the harbor

anchored together

© Jane Reichhold

Two beautiful haiku themed "wedding". I am married for 28 years next month and I am still deeply in love with my wife. We had a wonderful (low budget) wedding, but we enjoyed it very much. We celebrated our wedding at our home with all of our loved ones ... yes it was a wonderful day that I will never forget.

early this morning

the sound of church bells

through the mist

© Chèvrefeuille

And I ran into a nice haiku in my archive, that in a way resonates with the above haiku. I revised the original by the way to make the connection a little bit clearer.

croaking frogs

the old mansion is alive

a farmer's wedding

© Chèvrefeuille 

What a joy it was to create this episode for you all. It's a small token of my love for Jane Reichhold and my love for our CDHK family. Have fun!

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 1st at noon (CET). Have a wonderful day ...!

Carpe Diem #1539 Autumn's Voice (aki no koe) (classical kigo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

In an earlier post, the first of November, I told you about Autumn's Voice or the wind through the decaying leaves. It's a wonderful voice and it gives me always a feeling of relaxation. Only the wind through the leaves ... awesome. That's what I love to call "deep silence".

Today a short episode, because of lack of time. Earlier today I had an interview for a new job in a University Hospital. I sollicitated there for the job of Hematology nurse. I had a good interview and this new job is almost in reach. Next Monday I hope to hear from them. I will keep you all posted.

Back to our episode of today. I will give you only the "prompt / theme" ...: Autumn's Voice (or aki no koe), it's a classical kigo for Autumn, section Heavens.

late night walk
the rustling of colored leaves
reveals secrets

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 13th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1439 mountain(s)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today, I also have a very busy day, so I have made it myself easy. As you maybe know next month we will have all classical kigo (seasonwords) for Summer. Seasonwords are words that point towards a season. In our rich history here at CDHK we have had also modern kigo based on Jane Reichhold's Dictionary of Haiku. And today, because of lack of time I have chosen a modern kigo of Spring that fits this month's theme "journey into the high mountains of the Andes". I choose a modern kigo from Jane's Saijiki as mentioned above: mountains and I have a few nice haiku by Jane Reichhold to awaken your muse.

soul shape
between soft evening peaks
a valley cradle

mountains
folding into a valley
bird wings

© Jane Reichhold

The goal is to create haiku, tanka or another form of Japanese poetry inspired on this kigo. Create your poem by using the prompt. That doesn't mean you have to use the word, but your reader must understand that the season is Spring.

Enjoy this episode and I hope it inspires you all. This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 30th at noon (CEST). I will try to publish our new episode later on.
For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #890 Shoukan (less cold)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I don't know for sure how to bring this prompt. I can't say that I am that familiar with the classical Japanese kigo, but I will give it a try. In nature (especially on the Northern Hemisphere) January is the coldest month of winter and in Japan they have nuanced it. In Japan you have Daikan (great cold) and Shoukan (less cold).

In Japan there are a lot nuances in winter and I love to share their ideas here with you. Shoukan(less cold) fall on the 15th day after Touji(winter solstice). It is on about January the 6th. Kan(cold season) continues from Shoukan to the day before of Risshun(the first day of spring). So they (the Japanese) refer to the period of these 30 days as Kan-no-uchi(midwinter) from Kan-no-iri(beginning of midwinter) to Kan-ake(the end of cold season). Daikan(great cold) is on the 15th day, around January 20th after Shoukan. It is by far the coldest through the year. It is wrong to refer to these 15 days between Shoukan and Daikan as Shoukan. Either Shoukan or Daikan shows only one day of the twenty four designated seasonal days.

Winter in e.g. The Netherlands is mostly, starting to become cold, December; very cold, mid-winter, January and last but not least, February is less cold and spring is near.

Credits: Epiphany (Dutch website)

Okay ... Shoukan (less cold) is the first part of January and I wonder ... how do I catch that in haiku? Maybe I have to use that date, January 6th, in it. Maybe you know that January 6th is as we call it here in The Netherlands, Driekoningen (or Epiphany) it refers to the story of Jesus Christ birth. Here is my haiku inspired on Shoukan (less cold):

deep frost
skating in bright sunlight -
wise men on their way

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... not a strong one, but I think it's a great scene to go with Shoukan (less cold).

This episode is Now Open for your submissions and will remain open until January 6th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, our first CD-Special of this month, later on.

Carpe Diem #752 eagles

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a wonderful responses I have read on our last Tokubetsudesu episode "flowers". It was also a joy to create that episode. And what a joy that I can use haiku from our Haiku Kai family members for examples. Thank you all for your participation and being a devoted family member of our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai family.

Today we are going further with our exploration of the modern summer kigo as compiled by Jane Reichhold in her "a dictionary of haiku". Our prompt for today is eagles and as you all know I have written several haiku on eagles during the years that CDHK exists and I will for sure re-produce a few here, but first I love to tell you something more about our upcoming months, our third quarter.

In July I will bring classical kigo (seasonwords) for summer, so than we are going further with exploring those wonderful seasonwords which have to be part of a haiku. In August I hope to take you all on a trip along the Nile, as I had planned last year. And in September I hope to do another month with modern kigo as compiled by Jane Reichhold. And while I am telling you all this I also will bring our next anniversary to your attention. Next October we will have our third anniversary and I hope that will become another wonderful festive month with great names in haiku.

Ok ... back to our prompt for today eagles ... I love to tell you first a little bit about the spiritual meaning of the eagle(s) before I go on with the prompt's haiku.

According to Native American Tribes, like the Maine Penobscot Indian Nation, the eagle is considered the messenger from God. It is believed to carry the prayers between the earthly world and the world of spirits. As such, the eagle is revered as a sacred animal and honored above all other birds. Eagle feathers have long been part of the Native American traditional worship and celebration and are thought to call the attention of God.

As animal totems, eagles are thought to bring spiritual awakening through wisdom, perspective and insight into your life. These spiritual messengers may reveal opportunities and give you the wisdom to reach your dreams.

Isn't it a wonderful creature? The king of the birds being our guide on our spiritual path. Eagle learns us through his ancient knowledge all we need to know. This majestic bird is one of my favorite creatures and therefore I love to share a few haiku first written by me.

First a cascading haiku:

laying down on my back
watching the deep blue night sky -
feeling my spirit

feeling my spirit
wishing to be free forever
like an eagle

like an eagle
free and high in the blue sky
my Inner Path

© Chèvrefeuille

And this haiku (which I posted a time ago on my personal weblog):

high in the mountains
seeking for deeper silence
the cry of an eagle

© Chèvrefeuille

To conclude this episode I have the haiku by Jane Reichhold which she shared in her "a dictionary of haiku".

mountain climbers
resting in an eerie
eaglets

mountain peak
an eagle leaves it
moonlight

© Jane Reichhold

I hope this post will inspire you all to write an all new haiku or tanka. This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and it will remain open until June 13th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, arts, later on.