Carpe Diem #121, Greed (one of the seven sins)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to read your posts on 'Vanity', you have all composed wonderful haiku. Sometimes with a clear kind of vanity in it and sometimes not so clear, but they all were great.
I am glad to see new contributors to our daily haiku meme and I love to welcome them to Carpe Diem. I hope Carpe Diem will grow further and will even be a greater success than I could have dreamed of.
Today we share haiku on 'Greed', another one of the seven sins.

Greed

Greed is the inordinate desire to possess wealth, goods, or objects of abstract value with the intention to keep it for one's self, far beyond the dictates of basic survival and comfort. It is applied to a markedly high desire for and pursuit of wealth, status, and power.
As a secular psychological concept, greed is, similarly, an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs. It is typically used to criticize those who seek excessive material wealth, although it may apply to the need to feel more excessively moral, social, or otherwise better than someone else.
Thomas Aquinas wrote "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.". In Dante's Purgatory, the avaricious penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts.

From Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary, greed means "greedy for base gains." Gain itself is not a sin, but the gain of base things. Also, "given to greed" means literally, "given to filth." Thus, a moral concern, not a subjective economic one for which there is no equal. A very wealthy man, for example, may be considered "greedy" in error, if such wealth was planned for some great achievement or building project.

Ivan Boesky famously defended greed in a May 18, 1986, commencement address at the UC Berkeley's School of Business Administration, in which he said, "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself". This speech inspired the 1987 film Wall Street, which features the famous line "greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind."

 

The Worship of Mammon - painting by: Evelyn de Morgan

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon”. (Matthew 6:24)

What a sin ... Greed ... how to write haiku about greed? This will not be easy, but I have to try ... of course.

looking for more
hunting for gold and diamonds -
haiku community

(Don't take this personal (smiles), but if I read all of your wonderful post ... I love to read more. Just a kind of greed I think.)

finally have found
the last volume of the haiku bible -
Blyth's Haiku

Credits: first cherry blossom

first cherry blossom
every day I look up with greed -
another cherry blossom

Well ... I have succeeded I think. I love it when a haiku flows from my pencil. Every haiku makes me greedy for more haiku ... is that a sin? Am I sinner?

This prompt will stay on 'till February 15th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode on one of the seven sins, Jealousy, later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). Have fun, be inspired and creative ... and you may be greedy for more haiku writing and reading ... (smiles).

Carpe Diem #120, Vanity (one of the seven sins)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Awesome isn't it? This daily haiku meme looks like to become a hit and I am pleased with that. I have read wonderful haiku on 'Stork' and 'Windmill' and today I love to start a few days on the seven sins starting with Vanity (Vainglory) and the next two days we will have 'Greed' and 'Jealousy'. I hope to read wonderful haiku on these sins.

 

Vanity needs a mirror


In conventional parlance, vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others (Stephen LaMarche). Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant futility. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic synonym for vanity, but originally meant boasting in vain, i.e. unjustified boasting; although glory is now seen as having an exclusively positive meaning, the Latin term gloria (from which it derives) roughly means boasting, and was often used as a negative criticism.
In many religions vanity, in its modern sense, is considered a form of self-idolatry, in which one rejects God for the sake of one's own image, and thereby becomes divorced from the graces of God. The stories of Lucifer, Narcissus (who gave us the term narcissism) and others attend to a pernicious aspect of vanity. Philosophically speaking, vanity may refer to a broader sense of egoism and pride. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that "vanity is the fear of appearing original: it is thus a lack of pride, but not necessarily a lack of originality."One of Mason Cooley's aphorisms is "Vanity well fed is benevolent. Vanity hungry is spiteful."
In Christian teachings vanity is considered an example of pride, one of the seven deadly sins. This list evolved from an earlier list of eight sins, which included vainglory as a sin independent of pride.
In Orthodox church, vanity is one of eight sinful and diabolical passions, the fight against which is a major task of every Orthodox Christian.

Credits: Adam Bernaert - 'Vanitas' Still Life (1665)

Vanity ... one of the seven (or eight) sins ... is our prompt for today ... so be 'vainglorious' and share your haiku inspired on 'Vanity' with Carpe Diem.


golden glow -
she is combing her long blond hair
in front of the mirror

in front of the mirror
wallowing in vanity
a young novice


Well ... have fun, be inspired and share your 'vainglorious' haiku with Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 14th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will share our next episode 'Greed' later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).

Carpe Diem #119, Windmill (provided by YerPirate)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another day has gone by. Time really flies ... we are almost at the end of the first half of February and I have read wonderful haiku the last days. It's really a joy to be your host ... and it makes me humble ... that I may do this.

joy of writing
for all the friends of Carpe Diem -
makes me humble

Today we share haiku on 'Windmill' (provided by YerPirate of Tea with a Pirate) I think it's a lovely prompt. As you know I am living in The Netherlands and next to our Tulips and Wooden Shoes we're known by our windmills. We have a lot of them in our little country. You can see them everywhere and than I am talking about the historical ones, but also on those ugly new ones for making electricity. Those modern windmills you can see and find everywhere in my country and in the region where I live, the Polder (the Low Lands) you see them everywhere even close to the cities.

Credits: windmill

Or what do you say of this wonderful Dutch Windmill:

Credits: Dutch Windmill

And maybe you know the story of Don Quixote, a Spanish hero, who fought against windmills. Windmills like this one:

Credits: Spanish windmill

All stunning examples of windmills.

lost battle
fighting against windmills
a Spanish hero

Well ... I am not that inspired today. So this will do it ... for now. Have fun and share your haiku with Carpe Diem. And remember 'don't fight against windmills, you will be defeated'.

This prompt will stay on 'til February 13th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode of Carpe Diem later on today. That will be 'Vanity', one of the seven sins.

Carpe Diem #118, Stork (provided by Ese)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,


What a joy it was to read all of your posts on the Special by Chiyo-Ni and the related episode of Carpe Diem's Imagination. Really a joy ... I have read haiku worth to a haiku master as Chiyo-Ni was and they are all covered with some of your own emotions and thoughts.

Today we are sharing haiku on 'Stork' provided by Ese of Esenga's voice. I think this is a wonderful prompt and I hope to read wonderful haiku. Let me tell you something about the White Stork.

The White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on its wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average 100–115 cm (39–45 in) from beak tip to end of tail, with a 155–215 cm (61–85 in) wingspan. The two subspecies, which differ slightly in size, breed in Europe (north to Finland), northwestern Africa, southwestern Asia (east to southern Kazakhstan) and southern Africa. The White Stork is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detours via the Levant in the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, because the air thermals on which it depends do not form over water.

A carnivore, the White Stork eats a wide range of animal prey, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and small birds. It takes most of its food from the ground, among low vegetation, and from shallow water. It is a monogamous breeder, but does not pair for life. Both members of the pair build a large stick nest, which may be used for several years. Each year the female can lay one clutch of usually four eggs, which hatch asynchronously 33–34 days after being laid. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs and both feed the young. The young leave the nest 58–64 days after hatching, and continue to be fed by the parents for a further 7–20 days.

In my country parents are telling their children as an answer on the question 'where do the babies come from?' that they are brought in by the White Stork. Maybe that same story is familiar to you (smiles).

white stork
entering the nursery -
cry of a new born


cry of a new born
resonates through the night  -
stork flies away

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

This prompt will stay on 'till February 12th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode, 'windmill' (provided by YerPirate), later on around 10.00 PM (CET).

Carpe Diem Imagination #2, Morning Glory

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I love to challenge you with a new episode in our Carpe Diem Imagination. Goal of this challenge is to write a haiku inspired on a picture, photo or painting which I give here.
As you all (maybe) know our Carpe Diem Special haiku master of this month, Chiyo-Ni, has written a lot of haiku about Morning Glories. For example this one:

morning glories ---

awakened

in the middle of a dream

or this one:

morning glory -

the truth is

the flower hates people

So I would like to challenge you with a photo of Morning Glories ... enjoy the fun, be inspired and share your haiku with Carpe Diem

Credits: Morning Glories

This episode of Carpe Diem's Imagination will stay on 'till February 17th 11.59 AM (CET)

Carpe Diem Special #21, Chiyo-Ni's Spring Rain

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

After our short trip around the world we ended up in Japan yesterday and there we stay another day as I am sharing our next Carpe Diem Special written by Chiyo-Ni, our female haiku master of this month. I have found a really nice haiku written by her.

harusame ya utsukushiu naru mono bakari


Spring rain
everything just grows
more beautiful

Morning Glory

Isn't it a beauty?

sunny raindrops
sparkle like crystal
Spring rain

Spring rain
soothing and moisturizing -
her sound

Have fun and share your haiku inspired on the one by Chiyo-Ni and maybe in the same tone and Spirit as hers.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 11th 11.59 AM (CET) and I wil post our new episode, Stork (provided by Ese), later on today around 10.00 PM (CET) PS.: It could be somewhat later because I am in the nightshift.

Carpe Diem #117, Sakura (Japan)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today our final piece of our little musical trip around the world. Today we are visiting Japan, the land of haiku. The folkloric music of Japan is called Sakura, that's the prompt for today, and I will take you to the world famous Japanese drums of Taiko.

Sakura - Cherry Blossom

"Sakura Sakura" (さくら さくら?, "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms"), also known as "Sakura", is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms. Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate in ancient times; it was a popular, urban melody of the Edo period and was adopted as a piece for beginning koto students in the Tokyo Academy of Music Collection of Japanese Koto Music issued in 1888 (in English) by the Department of Education.The song has been popular since the Meiji period, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan. I will reproduce the song text here:

In Romaji:

sakura sakura
noyama mo sato mo
mi-watasu kagiri
kasumi ka kumo ka
asahi ni niou
sakura sakura
hana zakari

sakura sakura
yayoi no sora wa
mi-watasu kagiri
kasumi ka kumo ka
nioi zo izuru
izaya izaya
mini yukan

English translation:

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
In fields and villages
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the morning sun.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Flowers in full bloom.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Across the spring sky,
As far as you can see.
Is it a mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the air.
Come now, come now,
Let's look, at last!

And this is the music of Sakura, Sakura:

The Music of Sakura, Sakura

It's a song in praise of the Cherry Blossoms. The Cherry Blossom is a kigo (seasonword) for Spring and I will offer that prompt in our next month of Carpe Diem. March will have a prompt-list with classical Japanese kigo (as I did in December 2012 for Winter).

And so it sounds:

Another wonderful piece of Japanese music is the so called Taiko (Japanese Drums).
Taiko (太鼓?) means "drum" in Japanese (etymologically "great" or "wide drum"). Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums, (和太鼓, "wa-daiko", "Japanese drum", in Japanese) and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming (sometimes called more specifically, "kumi-daiko" (組太鼓)). The performances can last between 5 and 25 minutes and typically follow a jo-ha-kyū (beginning, middle, end/rapid, sudden, urgent, and emergency) structure, which means the performance will speed up significantly towards the grand finale.

Japanese taiko drums have been developed into a wide range of percussion instruments that are used in both Japanese folk and classical musical traditions.

Taiko, in general, are 3 sticks percussion instruments. With the exception of the "ko-tsuzumi" and "ō-tsuzumi", all taiko are struck with bachi. They have heads on both sides of the drum body, and a sealed resonating cavity. Taiko are also characterized by a high amount of tension on the drums heads, with a correspondingly high pitch relative to body size. This high tension likely developed in response to Japan's wet and humid summers when most festivals take place. Many taiko are not tunable, and a drum with high head tension would counteract the slacking effects of humidity.

A Taiko Drum

These Taiko drums are great and the perfomance with Taiko is almost better than the most Western music. An example of a Taiko performance:

In my country, The Netherlands, we have a Drum group called 'Slagerij Van Kampen', they perform on regular base all over the world and this is how that sounds:

Well ... isn't it wonderful to end our little musical trip around the world in Japan? (And a little bit of The Netherlands? :-) 

Is it possible to write haiku on this prompt? I don't know ... I hope so. I will give it a try and I hope you will too.

in praise of Cherries
a geisha is playing the Koto
singing Sakura

singing Sakura
wandering beneath the Cherry Trees
Ah! what a joy

drumming sounds
dancing through the streets
Taiko band playing

Taiko band playing
thoughts of Slagerij Van Kampen
East joins West

Really ... I have done it ... I have written a few haiku on our prompt for today ... what a relief. I hope you enjoyed reading this episode and I hope (for sure) that you did like the music I have shared here. Be inspired and creative ... follow the heartbeat of the Taiko drums to write and share your haiku on todays prompt.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 10th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new Carpe Diem Special written by Chiyo-Ni later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). Hereafter I will already share Chiyo-Ni's haiku for this Special.

harusame ya utsukushiu naru mono bakari

spring rain
everything just grows
more beautiful