Carpe Diem Haiku Kai: Trying to restart: Theme: Create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on a given image #0001

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Every time I try to restart isn't working at the moment. I have a very busy life, and also a lot of problems in my life e.g. with a few of my kids and grandkids, my family is the most important in my life, so that's why every restart is going wrong.

In my last post I told you all that I would restart with a daily theme on monday to friday, but it's not possible for me (at the moment) to post every workday, so I am trying this now for the weekend. My plan for now is to give you a theme every weekend to work with, mostly that will be one of my artworks to inspire you. Here is the first:

This artwork shows you a village somewhere in Italy, create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetryform inspired on this artwork.

Maybe you are familiar with painters, and their style of work. This one shows the influence of Rene Margritte.

Enjoy this challenge. 

This challenge is NOW OPEN and will remain open until next Saturday (August 19) 10:00 PM (CEST). You can add your link in the linking widget hidden in our logo below. Have fun!

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #1363: Summer Has Arrived

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Finally Summer has arrived at the Northern hemisphere and I am glad to find time to create a new episode in our wonderful Haiku Kai. It has been a strange time. The World is at stake and all around our wonderful planet we see still the results of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ofcourse there are several ideas according to this pandemic, but ... well that's not our business here at CDHK.

As you all know I am a healthcare worker and at the moment we have a small covid-19 outbreak again, not only our patients, but also a lot of  my co-workers are suffering from it. So that's why I had again to less time to create a new episode. I had promised you to be back soon, but I don't think I can publish an every day episode of our Haiku Kai. Forgive please.

As you can "read" in our post-logo I have chosen the theme Summer 2022, Let The Sunshine In. That theme brought this wonderful song from the musical/movie "Hair" into my mind. A wonderful song that was created back in the sixties as the so called "Flower Power" was running. I really love this song it gives me a feeling of joy. And that ... JOY ... we need!

I remember that we had a "Light Retreat" back in 2014, a period of 30 days to create haiku or tanka themed "The Joy Of Light". One of the haiku I wrote for that retreat fits this episode so well I think.

thousand orange leaves
counting my blessings every day -
I light a candle

© Chèvrefeuille (2014)

Well ... I hope I have inspired you to create haiku, tanka or another Japanese poetry form. This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 13th 10:00 PM (CEST). Have fun!

You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #1359: The Beautitudes

 

Dear haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of of wonderful Haiku Kai. Maybe you can remember that back in the years we had a special feature "Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu", back in time it was the new title for our former feature "Ghost Writer".

I remember that I loved creating those posts and I remember that we once had a "Tokubetsudesu" episode about the Beautitudes. Today I love to "reprise" that episode to inspire you.

For this episode I have chosen to share The Beatitudes as described in Matthew 5: 1-12 with you all for your inspiration. It fits really our central theme for April, Peace of Mind, and it's based on several ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions or life-philosophies.

I love to challenge you to bring The Beatitudes back to haiku or tanka or into a haibun ... no need to copy The Beatitudes, they are only used here for your inspiration. 

The Beatitudes

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It's wonderful and I think The Beatitudes will inspire you to compose haiku, tanka or haibun to share with us.

This "reprise" is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until March 8th 10:00 PM (CET). You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Sunday Time Challenge #3: Hurricane

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A little bit early, but I love to share our new Sunday Time Challenge already today. As you all know the goal is to create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form on a given theme within 24 hours, because of this early publishing you have now 48 hours to create your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.

At the moment I am in the nightshift at the nursing home for the elderly people were I am working. We have, how sad, a new covid-19 outbreak at our health facility and that makes that I am very busy (again). But ... well as you have seen, the theme for today (this weekend) is "hurricane" and that's inspired on a very heavy storm we have here at the moment. We have a heavy storm with Bft 10 to 11 and a lot of damage all over the country, even a few deads. So I thought ... this is a "great" theme for our Sunday Time Challenge.

Uprooted Trees

The goal is to create a haiku (or other Japanese poetry form) themed "hurricane". Here is my haiku ...

the old oak in the backyard
as strong as he always was
now ... uprooted ... tears flow

© Chèvrefeuille, your host

Hurricanes are awfull, but on the other hand ... it shows the power of nature. A power we never can equal.

This Sunday Time Challenge is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until Sunday February 20th at 10:00 PM (CET). You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #1856: Restarting?

 Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First of all this: Happy New Year. I hope this new year, the 3rd in a global pandemic, will become a far better year than 2021.

The world is on fire. Everywhere on the Earth we see people rising up against their governments. All are up to make the world a better place than it is right now. Our world is no longer that world we know off, where we live in.

Every day again I wake up asking the same questions: What is going to happen with our wonderful world? Will the pandemic finally come to an end? Or ...

It makes me sad to see how our world is changing into one big battlefield of communities within communities, vaxxed and non-vaxxed stand up to each other. Families are ripped apart, our world is no longer a place of freedom and peace, but public ground of the wealthy few that are striving for The Great Reset. Covid-19 ... that global pandemic ... is orchestrated by just the wealthy few. And it's not from a recent date, no ... far before the WHO called out for the Covid-19 pandemic, this was already on the agenda.

Sounds like a conspiracy theory? Maybe it is, maybe it is not. I don't know. It gives me, as the germans call it "ein unheimliches gefull". 

As I read posts on several socials it gives me the chills. And again that question comes in mind: What is going on in the world.

Yesterday I posted a haiku on our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai twitter-account and I love to reproduce it here again:

A New Day Rises

a world in flames
reaching to regain freedom
a new day rises

© Chèvrefeuille, your host

In every haiku ... there can be a silent hope for a new world, a new day. Let us pray that this world fire will end soon ..

Feel free to submit your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on this blog. You can add your submission to the linking widget below.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, November 2021: Follow The Dream: #1855 "I Have A Dream", (Martin Luther King, 1963)

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. I hope you all are into another month of wonderful challenges to create Japanese Poetry. Ofcourse I hope to publish more regular than I had thought recently. 

This month I have chosen a nice theme to work with "Follow The Dream". As you all maybe know, I have always followed my dreams. Back in time I had a dream to create a fantasy novel, and I did. Once I had a dream to create a daily haiku meme and ... as you are aware of ... that dream came true too.
Do I have more dreams? Yes ofcourse. I hope to be part of a world in which Peace and Love are the most important emotions. Ofcourse I know that thought is an Utopia, but you never know what the future will bring us. Until this dream will become true ... I will dream about it.

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

The most famous man who is still known after a long time who had a dream is Martin Luther King Jr. He stated "I Have A Dream" back in 1963 and was assasinated for it in 1968. He is still the man that is an example for everyone who cares ... who also dreams of Peace and Love.

He followed his dream too, but at the highest costs.

The challenge for you my dear Haijin, visitors and travelers of today create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on Martin Luther King's Dream. Maybe you have dreams? Feel free to share them and if you want ... you can create a haiku or tanka inspired on your own dream.

I had and have still dreams, small dreams and large dreams, but it are all dreams. I wish that all our dreams will become true once.

As I am creating this post a quote from "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho comes in mind:

"People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them." (Source: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho)

Dreamtime
inner feelings and emotions
come alive

© Chèvrefeuille

Keep on dreaming ... without dreams we are lost ...

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until November 8th at 10:00 PM (CET). You can add your submissions to the linking widget hidden in our logo below. Have fun!

Carpe Diem's Sunday Time Challenge #1: Pebbles (introduction)

 Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the first episode of a NEW FEATURE at our wonderful Haiku Kai. Maybe you can remember our "former" Time Challenge feature in which I challenged you to create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form inspired on a theme within 24 hours, I love those Time Challenges, because it fits the main idea that Haiku is just a short moment, as short as the sound of a pebble in water.

With this new feature "Carpe Diem's Sunday Time Challenge", I challenge you to create a new poem within the short time of 24 hours.

For this first Sunday Time Challenge I have chosen the following theme "PEBBLE", a reference to the shortness of the scene on which your Haiku or Tanka is based,

PEBBLES

Pebbles, are mostly found along beaches and on sand grounds. Pebbles are often used for decorating gardens and were found often in Japanese gardens.

On this first Sunday Time Challenge, Pebbles, you have to respond within 24 hours, say (roughly) until Monday October 25th 00:30 am (cest).

Here is a haiku, written by me, taken from my archive, to inspire you:

timeless beauty -
the glint of polished pebbles
in the crystal brook

© Chèvrefeuille, your host (2013)

Here is the Japanese translation, just for fun:

時代を超えた美しさ-
磨かれた小石の輝き
クリスタルブルックで

Jidai o koeta utsukushi-sa -
migaka reta koishi no kagayaki
kurisutaruburukku de

Enjoy this Time Challenge my dear Haijin.

This Time Challenge is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until Monday October 25th 00:30 AM (CEST). You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below. !! Remember you have only 24 hours to submit!!

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Celebrates Its 9th Anniversary: #1852 Out In The Fields

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our Haiku Kai's celebration month, October 2021. We are celebrating our 9th anniversary with a "trip along memory lane" and today I have (another) nice episode in which we look back into our rich history.

As you all know there are several features here on CDHK and today I have a nice one. I don't know if you remember this special feature, but back in time it was one of my better creations "Carpe Diem's Time Travel, Ancient Japanese Poetry To Inspire You".

Let me give you a piece of one of the episodes of "Time Travel":

[...] In the Hyakunin-isshu are themes such as nature, the round of the seasons, the impermanence of life, and the vicissitudes of love. There are obvious Buddhist and Shinto influences throughout.

An example of the Tanka in Hyakunin-isshu created by Emperor Tenchi (7th century):

Aki no ta no
Kari ho no iho no
Toma wo arami
Waga koromode wa
Tsuyu ni nure-tsutsu.

OUT in the fields this autumn day
They're busy reaping grain ;
I sought for shelter ’neath this roof,
But fear I sought in vain,—
My sleeve is wet with rain.

A very nice Tanka I would say. It's written in a very sophisticated style that fits the Emperor. I especially like the rhyme in the last two lines. As you all know (maybe), it is "not done" to use rhyme in Tanka, but in this one it seems that it had to be that way. It gives the Tanka "style". [...]

Mount Yudano

The above tanka brought a (not so well known) haiku by Basho in mind.

katara re nu   yudano ni nurasu   tometo kana

forbidden to say
how sleeves are wetted
in the bathroom

© Basho

Mount Yudano was a sacred and secrative place for the Shinto sect. More about this haiku by Basho you can find at Basho Revisited, one of my other personal weblogs.

There are a lot of haiku (and tanka) in which several myths and secrets are hidden. For example in a lot of haiku and tanka the poets hide sexuality and the beauty of human body.

So for this episode I love to challenge you to create a haiku or tanka in which you hide sexuality and the beauty of the human body. I will give you an example, which you maybe remember:

what has happened?
petals of red roses around
the morning glory

© Chèvrefeuille (2012)

"Morning glory" points to a certain male part. So in this haiku you find hidden sexuality and the beauty of the human body.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 24th at 10:00 PM (CEST). You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem #1842 End Of Year

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

The year 2020 is almost over. What a year it was. The pandemic, corona, and the tough times healthcare had (and still has). Even here at our wonderful Haiku Kai, we have had our lockdown and, how sorry I am for it, we still have that lockdown here at CDHK.

As you all know I am an oncology nurse and covid-19 takes all my energy and now it is even more worse, because my Mom has Covid-19 too. She is almost 91 and I am worried about her. As you (maybe) know, my Mom lives in a nursing home for the elderly, because of her dementia, and she lives in the nursing home were I am working myself.

In our nursing home we have a very big covid-19 outbreak and that makes that I really don't know how and when I can start posting our daily posts again.

It makes me sad, but ... well it is out of my hands, I cannot control what is happening at the moment in the world and in my personal life.

If I look back ... than 2020 is a year we will always remember as the "corona-year" and as I look at myself, 2020 will be a year full of loss. At the nursing home we have lost a lot of our patients to Covid-19 and a lot of my co-workers, are suffering of Covid-19 too. We just have to do our work with almost one third less co-workers. So it is tough, very tough.

I really hope that 2021 will be a year in which we all can return to a (more) normal life without Covid-19. I really hope that you all, my dear Haijin, are okay and in good health. Take care my dear Haijin ... take care.

I wish you all a wonderful new year and I hope that 2021 will bring us joy again.

In classical Japan (following the Lunar calender) there was a fifth season ''New Year", and this season was from approximately 20 december 'til 20 January. I have a few haiku which have been written for this season:

the Great Morning:
winds of long ago
blow through the pine trees

© Onitsura

The Great Morning is the morning of New Year's Day.

for this New Year's Day
the sight we gaze upon shall be
Mount Fuji

© Sokan

And a last one:

the first sunrise
there is a cloud
like a cloud in a picture

© Shusai

All wonderful haiku on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.

And here are a few haiku by Issa and Basho:

my shadow too
in good health...
"Happy New Year!"

New Year's gift of tea--
where did you go
on your journey back to me?

© Issa

Both are wonderful "new year" haiku. Let me look at a few haiku by Basho on New Year:

has spring already come?
I feel wealthy this New Year
with five sho of old rice

New Year's Day
I feel lonely just like
an autumn evening

And what do you think of this one by Yozakura, the Wandering Spirit?

nothing changes
every day will be the same
this new year

A wonderful series of haiku about New Year's Eve of New Year's Day. Let those haiku inspire you:

after New Year's Eve
life hasn't changed a bit -
another year gone

listen! listen!
the sweet silence
the day after

New Year's Eve
fireworks enlightens the sky -
bad ghosts flee

© Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you enjoyed this episode of our Haiku Kai. And I hope you are inspired to create your own haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until January 7th at 10:00 PM (CET). Enjoy your New Year's Eve and I hope that 2021 will bring us more joy ...
You can find the linkinking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem Celebrates Its 8th Anniversary October 2020: Carpe Diem #1834 sunflowers

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of our wonderful Haiku Kai. This month we are celebrating our 8th anniversary with flash-backs into our rich history. Today I have chosen for a theme we have seen a couple of times here at CDHK, sunflowers.

I love sunflowers, they always give me the feeling of a sunny day, even when it rains. Sunflowers are looking like the sun and that makes that I become always happy of having them in my home.

rain patters against the window
the loneliness disappears as by sunlight -
sunflowers reach for the sky

© Chèvrefeuille

And now ... it's your turn to create a sunflower haiku or tanka (or maybe one of the other Japanese poetry forms).

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 17th 10:00 PM (CEST). Enjoy! You can add your submission to the linking widget hidden in our logo below.

Carpe Diem Time Challenge #4 rainy days

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I remember that I said that I wouldn't do the weekend-meditations again, but I have given that idea a new thought. I decided to create every Saturday a Carpe Diem Time Challenge for you. That nice feature in which I challenge you to create a haiku or tanka in a short period of time.

For this weekend I have chosen the theme "rainy days". Create a haiku or tanka with that theme within 48 hours. 

left behind in the rain
the bench we shared this summer -
missing your laugh

© Chèvrefeuille

What a sad tone this haiku/senryu has ... but isn't that what rainy days do sometimes with us?

Well ... it's up to you  now. Create a haiku or tanka within 48 hours themed "rainy days". You can add your submission to the linking widget hereafter. Have a great weekend.

Carpe Diem Celebrates its 8th anniversary - Carpe Diem 1829 Introduction to a new month.

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at the first episode of our 8th anniversary. Carpe Diem Haiku Kai celebrates its 8th anniversary this month. I started CDHK back in 2012, just for fun and to promote haiku, the Japanese poetry form to which I am addicted since 1988.

The goal was to give visitors the possibility to create haiku (and tanka) by giving them a theme or prompt. I remember that I published my first post on the same date as today, so our celebration should start today, but ... well October 1st 2012 ... was the official start of CDHK.

sunbeams
streaming through the leaves
lightening my path

© Chèvrefeuille

Haiku, the shortest poem on Earth, at least as far as I know, caught me back in 1988. I never had heard about it until a fellow student told me about haiku. She gave me a Dutch book about Haiku ... I read that book several times, even that often, that the book is almost falling apart.

young moon
reflects on the pages
a touch of haiku

© Chèvrefeuille

The above image shows you the cover of that Haiku Book I told you about. It's written by the Dutch haiku poet J. van Tooren and is titled "Haiku, een jonge maan" (Haiku, a young moon).

That book was (and still is) my "bible" for haiku, next to the four books by H.G. Blyth, haiku.

Without those books I would never have started with writing haiku. Haiku ... yeah it's my poetry. That love for Haiku was the reason to start CDHK ... I had never thought that CDHK would be still online after 8 years. Awesome!

I don't have a real theme for this episode, but maybe you can write a nice festive haiku or tanka:

a new day rises

the song of birds awakening me

brings joy to my heart

© Chèvrefeuille

Celebrate this month, our 8th anniversary, with us all. Let us create a wonderful festive month ...

cherry blossoms bloom
nature's beautiful celebration -
enjoying the view

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until October 4th at 10:00 pm (CEST). Celebrate our 8th anniversary. You can add your submission by clicking on our logo hereafter.

Carpe Diem Time Challenge #3 Moorland

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I had some spare time, so I thought I create a little teaser for you. So therefore I choose an episode of our special feature "Carpe Diem Time Challenge", that unique feature in which I challenge you to create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form with a theme within 48 hours. Normally I give you only 24 hours but today's Time Challenge you can respond to within 48 hours.

This Sunday I have chosen a nice theme I think ... "Moorland" ... In this time of year, at least on the Northern Hemisphere the moorlands are in full bloom. I love the moorlands ... it's a joy to roam about the moorlands. I love all those colors, the silence and the vistas ...

wandering
the moorlands
just me

© Chèvrefeuille

Wandering the moorlands ... so relaxing, being one with nature, its beauty and the silence. I can smell the heather, hear the birds sing, touch the fragile flowers of the heather ... all my senses open up again.

ah! the silence
only the birds and me
wandering the moorlands

© Chèvrefeuille

Awesome! 

And now ... it is up to you to create your masterpiece within 48 hours.

This Time Challenge is NOW OPEN and will remain open until September 22nd at noon (CEST). Enjoy! You can add your submission to the linking widget below (click on the CDHK logo).

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Cape Diem's Time Challenge 2 Super Moon

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Well ... I had promised you a more frequent episode of this new feature, but I couldn't find the time. One of my co-workers has had a heart attack, so I had to take over several of her shifts and that took a lot of my time. So my excuses for not following my promise. I will try to publish our new Time Challenge feature every Saturday, so once a week.

Let me tell you our goal for this feature: The goal is to create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poem inspired on a given theme. You have limited time to respond, only 48 hours! So a "real" time challenge.

On May 7th we had a Super Flower Full Moon, so that's our theme for this new Time Challenge.

Super Flower Full Moon (May 7th, 2020)

Your goal is to create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poem themed Super Moon or Super Flower Full Moon within 48 hours.

I found one in my archives:

missing it again
only heavy clouds and a faint red
no super blood moon

© Chèvrefeuille

You can submit your haiku, tanka or other Japanese poem until May 11th 11:55 PM (CEST), so you have only 48 hours to respond.

You can click on our logo at the end of this episode, it will bring you to the Linking Widget.

Carpe Diem's Time Challenge ... remake of our Time Glass feature 1 first blossoms

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

During Covid-19 crisis I have done CDHK in Lock Down too, but now we see all around that the Lock Down is brought to lower rules, therefore I love to give you a new challenging feature. It's not completely new, because we have had the CDHK Time Glass feature back in our history, this new challenging feature is a "remake" of that feature.

The goal is to create a haiku, tanka or other Japanese poem inspired on a given theme. You have limited time to respond, only 48 hours! So a "real" time challenge. To bring this new feature up and running I will publish every 48 hours, a new Time Challenge.

Today I have chosen for the theme "First Blossom". Post your inspired poetry within 48 hours here at CDHK through the linking widget below (click on our Logo).

fading moonlight
caresses fragile blossoms
finally spring

© Chèvrefeuille

This Time Challenge starts NOW and will run until Monday May 4th 11:55 PM (CEST). Have fun! Add your post by clicking on the CDHK logo below (it will bring you to Blenza, a website that provides the linking widget for this new feature)