Carpe Diem #992 Willow

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at this belated episode "willow". I love to share some ideas and meanings about the "willow" here with you.

Many uses and associations can be traced back to our Celtic ancestors' observations of the willow tree in their natural environment. Druid priests, dryads (priestesses), bards and ovates all recognized the willow's affinity to watery domains. Flora and fauna in close connection with water are considered dwellers of the psychic realm, and symbolic of inspired imagination.

The willow gets its moon associations (another powerful symbol of psychic and intuitive energy) because of its relationship to water. We see this when we recognize the moon's influence over the waters of the earth - it moves the tides, pulling fluids to and fro with her own wax and wane.

Recognizing these natural unions, ancient Celtic spiritual leaders considered the willow a container for water/moon attributes and thus utilized its wood and branches to invoke deeper connections to their intuitive purposes. The Celts understood that the willow was instrumental in bringing about psychic visions that produced a clearer understanding of the world in which they lived.

Other valuable traits of the willow include its flexibility. The willow is one of the few trees that can bend in outrageous poses without snapping. This is a powerful metaphor for those of us on a spiritual path. The message here is to adjust with life rather than fight it.

In all, the willow reminds us to take heed of this lesson: Keep growing and reaching higher no matter where you are planted.

Willow

We have had several times "willow" as prompt here at CDHK and I think it's a very inspiring tree. We need to grown further in our haiku writing skills and in that goal we can help each other in a great way.

Here are a few examples of haiku inspired on willow, from my archives:

First a tanka:

autumn departs
in deep silence willow leaves fall -
tears on this grave
as the willow is green again
another year has gone

© Chèvrefeuille

tears of a geisha
her virginity lost to a soldier -
pussy willow blooms

© Chèvrefeuille

And a last one to conclude this episode about the willow. This one I wrote in the first month of our existence, October 2012:

weeping willow

in the autumn sunlight
a golden tree

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until July 12th at noon (CET). Our next episode, Ash, I have published too today. So two new episodes on one day. Have fun!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month May 10th "the willow leaves fallen" by Yosa Buson

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's my pleasure to present a new episode in our Tan Renga Challenge month to you. As you maybe have seen I use haiku written by classical and non-classical haiku poets / esses. Yesterday we had a haiku by Georgia and today we have a haiku by Yosa Buson, one of the four greatest haiku poets (next to Basho, Issa and Shiki).
Buson was not only a haiku poet, he was also a great painter. He painted several paintings to illustrate Basho's world famous haibun "The Narrow Road Into The Deep North"., but he also created several other wonderful haiga.

Haiga by Yosa Buson

However this month it's not about haiga, its about Tan Renga that short chained poem written by two poets. Here is the haiku by Buson for your inspiration to create the second stanza of this Tan Renga.

the willow leaves fallen,
the spring gone dry,
rocks here and there

© Yosa Buson (1716-1784)

A nice haiku to start the Tan Renga with, but not an easy one I think. I have given it a try and came up with the following stanza:

the willow leaves fallen,
the spring gone dry,
rocks here and there                                   © Buson

the full moon embraces the willow
that reflects in the city pond                       © Chèvrefeuille

Not a strong completion, but I just had an idea and I tried to re-produce that idea in this second stanza. What do you think?

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until May 14th at noon (CET). I will post our new "hokku" (starting verse) for May 12th on our twitter account.

Introduction to our upcoming month May 2015 "On the Trail with Basho".

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Basho (1644-1694) was a traveling poet, as was e.g. Santoka Taneda (1882-1940) or was Saigyo (1118-1190), Basho's great role-model. Basho modeled his life and poetry, in many ways, on Saigyo. Basho's poems (haiku) often contain references either to a poem Saigyo wrote on one of his journeys or to Saigyo's memorial home, which Basho visited several times.
In of his haibun Basho wrote: "Heels torn, I am the same as Saigyo, and I think of him at the Tenryu ferry. Renting a horse, I conjure up in my mind the sage who became furious. In the beautiful spectacles of the mountain, field, ocean, and coast I see the achievements of the creation. Or I follow the trails left by those who, completely unattached, pursued the Way, or I try to fathom the truth expressed by those with poetic sensibility".

In "Oki no Hosomichi" or "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" Basho is anxious to see a certain willow tree at Ashino on which Saigyo has written a poem:

the clear water of the stream
flows beneath the shade
of a willow by the roadside;
it was long indeed
that I stood there

© Saigyo (from the No-play "The Willow of Yugyo".)

I don't know who the translator was of the above poem (waka) by Saigyo, but as I was preparing this introduction to our upcoming month I ran into a wonderful translation of this same poem by Jane Reichhold, to whom I am so grateful that she gave me the opportunity and the permission to use her haiku for this month on Basho.
Here is her translation, a beauty:

along the way
where water is running
in the willow shade
I have stopped to rest
for a little while

© Saigyo (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

Saigyo's Willow (woodblock print)

As Basho finds this willow on which Saigyo wrote his waka, he writes the following haiku:

one patch of a rice field
when it was planted I left
the willow tree

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

I found another "version" of this haiku translated into Dutch (my maiden language) by a fellow Dutchman, Aleid C. Swieringa, and I love to share my English translation of that haiku here also:

after the rice planting
the young girls left - and I
left the willow's shadow

© Basho (Translated from a Dutch version)

This Basho-month I hope to share the teachings of Basho. Part of his teaching was this admonishment:

"Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or to the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo. Ans in doing so, you must leave your subjective preoccupation with yourself. Otherwise you impose yourself on the object and do not learn. Your poetry issues of its own accord when you and the object have become one, when you have plunged deep enough into the object to see something, like a hidden glimmer there. However well phrased your poetry maybe, if your feeling is not natural - if the object and yourself are separate - then your poetry is not true poetry but merely your subjective counterfeit".

This admonishment is (in my opinion) the heart of Basho's teachings, and I hope to bring it into this month's posts and haiku.

I am looking forward to May 2015 in which we will go "on the trail with Basho" and are starting to become amazed by the beauty of ancient Japan caught in haiku written by Matsuo Basho, one of the greatest haiku poets ever ...

in his footsteps
we will explore the beauty
ancient Japan

© Chèvrefeuille

This was an introduction episode to May 2015 ... be patient ... we have not yet arrived there.

Carpe Diem's "Only the first line ... " #5 "Under the Willow"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Just a treat for your inspiration. A new episode of Carpe Diem's "only the first line". In this special feature the goal is to write a new haiku which starts with a given fîrst line.

For this episode of CD's "only the first line" I have chosen the next 'first line'. To make this a real challenge I have one 'rule' which you have to use.
Which one? Well ... the haiku has to follow the syllables-count 5-7-5, the classic rule.
The first line you have to use is:

"under the willow"

Have fun, be inspired and share your classical (counted) haiku starting with the above mentioned line with us all.

Here is my attempt:

under the willow
hiding for the midday-heat
newly wed couple

(c) Chèvrefeuille

Under the Willow

I hope you all did enjoy this 'little treat'. You can submit your haiku starting with the given first line and with the classic syllables-count until April 20th 11.59 AM (CET).

Namaste

Carpe Diem Special #34, Chèvrefeuille's 'under the willow'.

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another Special episode of Carpe Diem. It's the last Special of this month in which I celebrated my 50th birthday, my 22th wedding anniversary and 25th anniversary as a haiku poet. So today I share my Special haiku for the last time this month. Next month I will introduce to you Kyoshi Takahama (1874-1958), another haiku master, but that's for May 2013.

The haiku which I love to share with you is the following:

such a hot day
my shadow needs to cool down
under the willow

under the willow

It's a haiku which I published in 2011 on my 'home-weblog' Chèvrefeuille's Haiku-blog it was inspired on a haiku by Matsuo Basho, 'my haiku-master'. That haiku of Basho was:

essential to life

the little space under my hat

enjoying the coolness

(c) Basho (1676)

In this haiku by Basho the 'hat' is a 'kasa' (see image). Someone with such a 'kasa' on his head has always a little shadow at least enough to protect the eyes against bright sunlight.

A 'kasa'

Well ... as I did in every Special I will try to compose another haiku in the same tone as the one I gave above.

another hot day
wandering around on the heath
no shadow at all

hot Summer day
people seeking for coolness
at the seaside

Hm ... I like these ... I enjoyed the Special sharings for this month, I am glad that you all could write new haiku inspired on the ones I gave in these Carpe Diem Specials. So I hope that this last Special with a haiku written by myself will inspire you all to write new haiku.

This prompt will stay on 'til April 30th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our last episode for this month of Carpe Diem, Honey (provided by KZ), later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).

Carpe Diem #158, Yanagi (Willow)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today is our last day of Carpe Diem's daily haiku meme month March. I have really enjoyed this month of haiku writing. I have read wonderful haiku and I know it wasn't easy to write them with all those nice classical Japanese kigo for Spring, but you all did very well. It makes me so proud that this haiku community is a success and that you, my dear haijin, visitors and travelers, have written all those excellent haiku.
I have published the new prompt-list for Carpe Diem's daily haiku meme month April. You can find it under the tab Carpe Diem April 2013. I think I have succeeded to make a wonderful new prompt-list. Let me know if you like the new prompt-list and if you have prompt suggestions ... please share them in the Prompt Suggestion part of this weblog.

Today we share haiku on Yanagi (Willow), a kigo for late-Spring. I haven't time enough to write an 'big' episode so I love to share a wonderful picture of a Willow.

Willow (Salix)

And I love to share a new haiku freshly written:

reflecting willow
on the bank of the pond -
upside down world


Well ... have fun and share your haiku with Carpe Diem. This prompt will stay on 'till April 1st 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our first prompt of April, Zodiac, later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).

Carpe Diem #25, tears

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today our prompt is tears a sad prompt or a happy prompt. Tears we can shed through sadness or through happiness. It's all up to you.

weeping willow
sheds his tears on the last summer day
leaves turning yellow

leaves turning yellow
in the bright sunlight
a golden tree

a golden tree
autumn has come, tears fall
weeping willow

A lovely cascading set of haiku I think. It brings happy memories to me. As I see the weeping willow turn into a golden tree my eyes begin to twinkle. It looks so gorgeous. Ah! Autumn what a season.

This prompt will stay on 'till October 26th 11.59 AM (CET). The prompt for our next Carpe Diem will be laughter, the opposite of tears, and I will publish it today around 10.00 PM (CET).

Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku and comments with us.

By the way ... I hope you like our new lay-out ... it's autumn so I have given our weblog an autumn-jacket.

Carpe Diem, #9 willow

Dear Haijin,

A new day has begun. Today we have the prompt willow. A wonderful tree in several species. It's a lovely tree on which several haiku poets have written haiku. For example the next haiku is written by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) and was part of his 'Narrow Road to the Far North' one of his haibun.

to sweep the garden
before I leave
falling willow leaves

It was the custom than that when you had gotten a place to sleep in e.g. a temple you had to do something in return. Basho wrote this above haiku for that purpose.

On February 19th I wrote a haiku for the Haiku Challenge of Few Miles, the site of SiS, on weeping willow. This haiku is part of a series about seasons, the season in this one is Autumn.

weeping willow
in the autumn sunlight
a golden tree

Credits: weeping willow in Autumn

  
The task for today is: write a classical or non-classical haiku on willow or inspired on willow. Enjoy the fun, be inspired and share your haiku on Carpe Diem.
This prompt will stay on 'till October 10th 11.59 AM (CET). The prompt for October 10th will be rainbow and will be published on October 9th around 10.00 PM (CET).

See you tomorrow, Namaste,