Carpe Diem #89, tomorrow

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today will be a day of 'stress' because my mom will have her heart surgery and I will stay in the hospital for a few days together with my dad to be near to her. I am a bit scared for this big surgery and I hope it will go alright. Thank you all for your warmth, compassion and prayers in these days.
As always their will be a new day, a new tomorrow ... and that brings me to our new prompt for today 'tomorrow'. It will not be an easy one, but I think tomorrow can be an inspiration for us all. When I was creating this new list of prompts the first thought on 'tomorrow' was ... future, but also a song from the musical Annie. So here is the song:

I love this song full of love and hope ... that love I can feel through all of your comments on my mom's heart surgery and that, my friends, gives me hope for a quick recovery of my mom. Thank you all ...

tomorrow morning
brings new hopes and love -
a bright future

a bright future
longing for the first day of Spring
plum blossoms blooming

plum blossoms blooming
winter is almost gone -
tomorrow morning

Credits: plum blossom

I love this set very well, it gives me hope for the future and hope for a quick recovery of my mom and of course a quick recovery for all those people that are in a difficult time.

This prompt will stay on 'til January 8th 11.59 AM (CET) and our new episode of Carpe Diem, tulips, will be online later on today around 10.00 PM (CET), than I hope to tell you all that my mom's surgery has gone well.

Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with Carpe Diem.

Namaste

Carpe Diem #88, Now, Today

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope all is well with you all. I am glad to know that you're so nice to back up me during this difficult time around the cardiac surgery of my mom. As it looks now ... my mom will be in surgery next monday 2:00 PM (CET). 'Till now she feels oke and has confidence in the heart surgeons. I will try to post our daily haiku for Carpe Diem, but I can't guarantee that ... I will see how things are going.

Today our prompt is 'Now, Today' a difficult one I think, but maybe that's more my idea because of my mom. Well ... I have to try of course to write my own haiku here as an inspiration for you all, my dear friends.

today is the day
celebrating life as it is
cry of a new born

cry of a new born
accompanied with the song of birds
and blooming cherries

Not a strong pair of haiku ... I hope to read stronger haiku written by you.

This prompt will stay on 'till January 7th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will publish our new prompt 'tomorrow' later on today around 10:00 PM (CET).

Be inspired, be creative and share your haiku with Carpe Diem. And maybe you can post a comment after linking. Thank you all for your love and kindness and your every day effort to write haiku for Carpe Diem.

Carpe Diem Special #15, winter trees (Shiki)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Our first Carpe Diem Special of 2013 and the first written by Shiki, our haiku master for this month. From the start of Carpe Diem I loved to share haiku in the Specials written by our haiku masters, first we had haiku by Basho, than by Issa and last month they were all of Buson. Those three haiku masters and Shiki are the so known 'great four', so this month we have the last of the great four haiku masters Shiki.
Shiki gave haiku it's name and brought the haiku into the 20th century and brought us his legacy of wonderful haiku. The first I love to share is the next one, it's a winter haiku.

just outside the gate
the road slopes downward
winter trees

I like this one a lot. It gives me a feeling of winter and the joy of a winter stroll. The fresh air of winter, with a touch of snow and frost. Walking along the road enjoying the winter trees and maybe the play of children, skaters and what ever ...

I think this haiku can be a good inspiration source to us all and I hope to read wonderfully composed haiku inspired on the one by Shiki.

Shiki

By the way ... during private circumstances (my mom has to go for cardiac surgery) I will not have the time to comment on all your nice posts and comments ... forgive me ... I hope to catch up when all is well with my mom. I will try to post our every day episodes of Carpe Diem, but that also ... could be delayed.

OK ... let's do some haiku composing inspired on the one by Shiki.

wandering
through a winter wonderland -
joyful sounds of kids

joyful sounds of kids
making a snowman together -
Ah! what a sight.

This Carpe Diem Special will stay on 'til January 6th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode 'Now, today' later on around 10.00 PM (CET). Enjoy the read and the fun of writing haiku.

Namaste

Carpe Diem #87, Yesterday

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Isn't it awesome? Another month of daily haiku inspiration. I love to be your host and I love to share another prompt for Carpe Diem. Today the prompt is 'Yesterday' and the first what came in mind was a song by the Beatles 'Yesterday'.

It's one of their greatest hits and I love it very much. Feels like a sentimental and nostalgic journey ... awesome.

yesterday she flew
away and left her elderly house
my youngest daughter

my youngest daughter
has left the shade of Mother's wings
to be with her man

to be with her man
as I look at her, my daughter,
yesterday has flown away

I love it when a haiku becomes real. My youngest daughter, 20 yrs old, has left our home to be with her boyfriend. She's my treasure and has become the treasure of another man. Well ... that's life. God has granted us a daughter 20 yrs ago and now we have to let her go.

This prompt will stay on 'til January 5th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our first Carpe Diem Special, a haiku by Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) one of the four greatest haiku poets ever. Shiki brought haiku into the 20th century and he was the one who gave haiku it's name. Shiki means hototogisu, or Japanese cuckoo, the hototogisu sang a lot sometimes 'til bleeding. Shiki suffered of TBC and coughed blood it's that what brought him his 'nom de plume'.

Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902)

This is the haiku by Shiki which I will use for our first Carpe Diem Special of this year and this month.

just outside the gate
the road slopes downward
winter trees

(PS. I couldn't find the Romanji translation of this one, but I will look again)

Have fun, be inspired and creative. Share your creativity and haiku with us here on Carpe Diem.

NB.: Tigerbrite couldn't post her haiku here so I will give you all the link Tigerbrite

 

Carpe Diem #86, Honeysuckle

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Well ... we are on our way in 2013. I have enjoyed the last three months very well and I am glad to see that our contributors group is growing. Our last December month wasn't easy I think, because of the use of the classical kigo, but it was a joy. So I will use classical kigo for Spring in March, the first month of Spring and also for Summer and Autumn later on this year.

Today our prompt is Honeysuckle a bit vainglorious I think, because it's the English translation of my 'nom de plume' Chèvrefeuille. I think that the most of you know that Chèvrefeuille is not my real name. I have chosen that name because I like the Honeysuckle and her perfume ... and it's an old classical custom to take on a 'nom de plume' as a haiku poet.

Honeysuckle

I hope to read wonderful haiku on this prompt and I will enjoy reading them all, but ... during lack of time I will catch up later with commenting, not only on this one, but also on the other Carpe Diem episodes.

her sweet perfume
tingles my senses
Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle
spiritual way to my Inner Self
what an adventure

The spiritual meaning of Honeysuckle is 'the way to the Inner Self'.

When I took this 'nom de plume' I was looking for myself. I was in a depression and had completely lost my touch with Earth. I sought my way in the occult and that wasn't a good choice. I became ill and couldn't work at all. I even had suicidal thoughts. With the love of all my friends and family I became well again and right on that time the Honeysuckle in my backyard started to bloom. Her perfume and fragile blossoms brought back my love for nature and brought me back to Earth. It wasn't a time which I am proud of and I am surely want look back again from now on.

caught by her love
her sweet perfume and blossoms
Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle
brought me back to Earth
finally home again

Credits: Honeysuckle

This prompt will stay on 'till January 4th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will publish our new prompt 'yesterday' later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).

Have fun, enjoy the read, be inspired and creative. Share your creativity with us ... and please leave a comment after linking.

PS.: Do you have suggestions for prompts? Share them with us on the 'prompt suggestion' page.

Carpe Diem #85, Hill (provided by Dulcina)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Yesterday (January 1st) I used a temporarily logo because I hadn't made a new one. Well ... as you can see I have made a new logo for Carpe Diem's daily haiku meme. It's a picture of Dutch Winter. I will use this logo this month of Carpe Diem and I have completed my new list of prompts for this month.
Yesterday we had fireworks for prompt and I hadn't tell you the new prompt for today. Today our prompt is Hill and it's provided by Dulcina of Dulcina's Garden. I think this is a nice, but difficult, prompt. So have fun, be inspired and share your creativity with us all here on Carpe Diem.

Credits: Connors Hill

What a wonderful landscape. I have found a wonderful haiku written by Issa in 1803 with 'hill' as theme:

kata sode wa yamate no kaze ya naku chidori

from one side
wind from the hills
plovers singing

(c) Issa - 1803


wandering through the hills
over winding roads and paths
Ah! What a joy


This prompt will stay on 'till December 3rd 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode of Carpe Diem 'Honeysuckle' later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). And please don't worry that you can't post on time, I will close the prompts of last December week and first January week somewhere in week two.

Carpe Diem #84, Fireworks

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First: HAPPY NEW YEAR IN GOOD HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND FULL OF INSPIRATION!!!

I am a bit late, but well ... I had other things to do. Today our first prompt for January 2013 is on and that's Fireworks a lovely prompt I think ...
I had a wonderful New year's Eve with my children and grandchildren and we have started 2013 in full joy. What will bring us this New Year? Well we will see ...
2013 Is the year of the Snake (in Chinese astrology) and maybe it will bring us good fortune or something.

first day of year
bad spirits and ghost defeated
royal fireworks

royal fireworks
what a joy to look at
the Earth lives

the Earth lives
the wind of yesterday
has gone

has gone
the old year, a new year starts
first day of year

Have fun and be inspired. Be creative and share your haiku with Carpe Diem.
This prompt will stay on 'till January 2nd 11.59 AM (CET) and I will publish our new prompt later on today ... what the prompt will be? .... Just wait and be surprised.