Carpe Diem Special #101, Jim Kacian's 2nd "after snow"

 

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another CD Special is ahead of us. Jim has written wonderful haiku and it isn't easy to choose from his oeuvre, but I think I have found a nice haiku for your inspiration. For those who are new here I will give the goal of these Specials. For this CD Specials i choose a haiku written by our featured haiku-poet of the month. This month that is Jim Kacian, co-founder of the World Haiku Association and owner of Red Moon Press (specialized in publishing haiku). The haiku is meant for your inspiration and the goal is to write/compose a new haiku in the same sense, tone and spirit as the given haiku.

Here is our 2nd haiku by Jim Kacian:

after snow
the faint yellowness
of the white house

© Jim Kacian

What a beauty. The first thought which came in mind was the painting called 'yellow house' i am not sure but the painting i meant is by Van Gogh or by Gaugain. And the response which i wrote at the start of cdhk in October 2012 about an orange house. I even recall that i used that haiku for one of the first 'troiku' i wrote.

all day sunrise
what a joy to live in
my orange home

© Chėvrefeuille

Well .... now it's up to you .... write a new haiku inspired on the haiku given by Kacian.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 13th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, truth, later on.

Carpe Diem #536, Pebble

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As you all maybe know haiku is a poem which gives an image of a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water. So I thought it would be fun to have a Khalil Gibran prompt "pebble". That prompt is now on our list and I love to share a 'verse' by Gibran which is in tune with this 'pebble'- idea.

[...] “When God threw me, a pebble, into this wondrous lake, I disturbed its surface with countless circles. But when I reached the depths, I became very still." [...]

It's a very meditative verse I think and I know that it is sometimes used for meditation. Picture it: "You are a pebble. God takes you in His hand and throws you into this wondrous lake. As you touch the surface of the lake, circles appear widening and widening ... and than, as you reach the bottom of the lake your movement is over and you are laying there ... completely silent. Than your thoughts are going on a role, but finally your thoughts will stop, because you're a pebble ... one with your surroundings .... one with the lake, the water, the mud on the bottom. You look up and than ... you can see the faint movements of the lake's surface, the shadows of the trees around it, the shadows of the ducks swimming at the surface, that wonderful light of sunbeams breaking on the lake's surface ... the light breaks through the surface in all rainbow's colors. They reach you and than ... the wonder ... your white pebble body transmits the colors back to the surface ...".
Must be an awesome feeling ... that's meditation. Searching for the depths of your mind, your heart and soul. Finally you will reach that point ... deep silence ... one with all and everything.

Credits: Zen Pebble

deep silence
sunbeams breaking through the water -
the silence deepens

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 12th at noon. I will try to publish our new episode, our second haiku by Jim Kacian, our featured haiku-poet, later on. For now ... be like a pebble thrown into a wondrous lake and be inspired.
!! I am behind with commenting, but I will try to catch up a.s.a.p. !!

Carpe Diem #535, Pearls

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I haven't a lot of time today, so I have decided to create a not so long post for today. That means ... I only share the words of Khalil Gibran from Sand and Foam. I hope you don't mind.
Today our prompt is pearls and I have found a few nice 'verses' from Sand and Foam ...

[...] "Perhaps the sea's definition of a shell is the pearl. Perhaps time's definition of coal is the diamond." [...]

[...] "A pearl is a temple built pain around a grain of sand." [...]

Credits: Pearl

And here is my attempt to write a haiku inspired on this 'verse' by Gibran.

catching oysters

to serve to my beloved wife -

pearl necklace

© Chèvrefeuille

Hm ... not as strong as I had hoped, maybe I will change it later, but for now ... this haiku gives words to my feelings ...

Another try:

wandering along the sea
in the footprints left an oyster
shimmering of a pearl

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 11th at noon. I will post our new episode, pebble, later on. 

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #46, Jamie Wieland's "the glow of the dawn"

Dear Haijin, vísitors and travelers,

A new Tan Renga Challenge is here ... It's my pleasure to create a new Tan Renga Challenge for you. This week the first stanza, a haiku, is composed by Jamie Weiland of "Tea, Poems and Pictures" She is one of our new family-members and she has shared already wonderful haiku with us all.

As you know the goal of this Challenge is to complete or continue the given first stanza of the Tan Renga by writing a two line stanza (7-7 syllables) towards the first stanza by association on a part of the first stanza. This is our 46th Tan Renga Challenge and i am looking forward to, as will Jamie, how your continuation or completion will look. So let us look at the first stanza.

as a white dove lands
words unspoken yet knowing-
the glow of the dawn

© Jamie Wieland

I think it's a gorgeous one. And it will certainly inspire you to complete it with a second stanza.

Credits: Two White Dove Flying

The haiku by Jamie inspired me to write the next stanza to this Tan Renga ...

as a white dove lands
words unspoken yet knowing-
the glow of the dawn                                    (Jamie)

starting a life together
newly weds ... exchanging their vows            (Chèvrefeuille)

Not as strong as I had hoped, but it fits the scene which I loved to share. A wedding ceremony ....

This Tan Renga Challenge is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Friday August 15th at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem #534, Ancestors

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Haiku, as you all know, is a Japanese poetry form. So in a way, as we write haiku, we are Japanese for a moment. Our prmpt for today is ancestors an that brings me to the point of honoring your ancestors.
We are all bound, by birth, to our ancestors, but do we honor our ancestors in the way of the Japanese?
I think that we all will have memories of our ancestors, but, as I look at myself, I don't have a kind of altar for my ancestors as the most Japanese will have. I have only photos of them. No candles or something to worship them, as the Japanese do.
It's a habit in Japan to worship ancestors by 'building' them an altar and burn incense for them. That Japanese custom is a bit strange, in my opinion, but maybe that's because of my upbringing. I have learned, as a Christian, that we only need to worship God and through Him we honor our ancestors. My ancestors are part of my life, but I don't worship them. Of course I honor them as being the roots of my being, my life.
The Japanese people have a very strong bond with their ancestors, they are really part of their life as shown in the custom of ancestor worship by building them an altar and burning incense to have a spiritual connection with them. It's based in their cultural and ancient religion of Shinto.

Credits: Ancestor Worship

Ok ... back to our prompt. Today, as I said, ancestors is our prompt and it is based on several aphorisms by Khalil Gibran's "Sand and Foam".

[...] "Remembrance is a form of meeting". [...]

So if we remember our ancestors we meet them.

And in another aphorism Gibran says:

[...] "My house says to me, "Do not leave me, for here dwells your past." And the road says to me, "Come and follow me, for I am your future." And I say to both my house and the road, "I have no past, nor have I a future. If I stay here, there is a going in my staying; and if I go there is a staying in my going. Only love and death will change all things." [...]

Ancestor worship is like going on your path, and leave a part of your heart behind, because if you leave a part of your heart at home, you are connected with your ancestors while underway to your own destiny. Your ancestors will guide you on your path ...
Ancestors are a part of us. They are in our genes and will always be with us. They are in our mind and heart. They are a part of us.

at the jumble sale
the photo of someone's grandma,
she smiles at me

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 10th at noon (CET). I will, try to, post our next episode, pearls, later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at CDHK.

Carpe Diem #533, Forest

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today we have another great "aphorism" by Khalil Gibran from his book "Sand & Foam". As I was creating this blogpost on forest there were a few things which came in mind:
First the movie Forest Gump
Second the GW-post by Managua Gunn (you can find that GW-post HERE) Managua Gunn is in my opinion a "real" forest guy, so you have to read his GW-post another time if you want to.

My hometown is surrounded by several forests, but I am not always in the mood to visit them. Several years ago my hometown became "the most green town of The Netherlands" and that says it all I think. It's really a good place to live.

One of the (many) parks in my hometown

Ok ... back to our prompt forest for today another nice aphorism by Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese philosopher.

[...] "We were fluttering, wandering, longing creatures a thousand thousand years before the sea and the wind in the forest gave us words. Now how can we express the ancient of days in us with only the sounds of our yesterdays?" [...]

A wonderful thought I think, the forest gives us words (as you can read between the lines in e.g. the post by Managua). So I hope, once again, that the forest will give you words to express your thoughts and feelings in an all new haiku.

listen to the wind
that moves through the forests -
buzzing mosquitos

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode, which I hope that it will inspire you, is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 9th at noon (CET). I will try to post our new episode, ancestors, later on. For now ... have fun, be inspired and share your inspired haiku with us all.
!! I post this episode earlier than I do normally, but I have a busy day ... so sorry that you have to wait a bit longer before you can post !!
!! By the way ... I am hopelessly behind with commenting I will catch up a.s.a.p. !!

Carpe Diem Ghost Writer #20, Jen's "The Scent of Poetry"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's Wednesday again and so it is time for another Ghost Writer post. This week I have a wonderful Ghost Writer post written by Jen of "Blog It Or Lose It". And I hope you all will appreciate her post. This time she loves to share with you all "The Scent of Poetry" and I think she has a point in her post. We use not all our senses in our haiku and maybe we can become better in writing/composing haiku if we try to bring of our senses in our poems.

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The Scent of Poetry

Have you ever walked into an unfamiliar place – but then smelled something which triggered a powerful memory from childhood?  Scientists tell us that this is because your sense of smell is tied to the part of your brain that process emotion as well as the part that processes associative learning.  And, because we come into contact with most new smells in our youth, smells can conjure childhood memories (1).  Our visual and verbal memories peak in our early teens through late 20s, but our peak in scented memories is around five years old (2). That’s not to say that we don’t create scent memories as adults – but our childhood scent memories tend to be more common and more powerful.

Why am I telling you all of this? 

If you’re like me, about 90% of your poetry involves sight and sound description – red tulips in a pattering rain, with no mention of the sweet (sometimes peppery) smell of tulips or the silky feel of tulip petals.  (Don’t worry – I won’t ask you to taste the petals!) Every week I tell myself to involve more senses in my poetry than just sight and sound – and rarely does that happen!  But – it’s still a good thing to try to do – because these added sensory images really draw the reader into your poetry.  For this prompt, I’m hoping we can focus on our sense of smell because of its ability to trigger memories.  Think back to your childhood.  Do you associate any smells with your grandparents’ house or garden?  Can you remember the smell of your first school?  Can you remember any of the smells in your neighborhood or yard?  How would you describe these smells?Or … are there any scents in the grocery store that trigger memories?  When I was pregnant with my son, I had horrible morning sickness (into my fourth month!) and was very sensitive to the powerful, concentrated “yeasty” smell of the grocery store bread section. To this day I don’t like the bread section in the grocery store – it makes me queasy.  Strangely, though, bakeries don’t have the same effect – they have a nice smell, not that hyper-yeasty grocery-store-bread smell. 

 

Here is my attempt at a scent-oriented haiku:

spring plowing done –   /
the scent of oil and hot dust /
in grandpa’s workshop //

If no scent memories come to mind, perhaps you could consider some of your favorite nature scents.  Here is a tanka I wrote to accompany a painting by Vincent Van Gogh:

where Vincent paints /
warm in the afternoon sun /
cypress and lemon – /

his gloves carry the scent /
long into the evening //

 

Here are some more scent ideas for you:

- tart apples being cooked into pies;
- hot dust in the attic during hide-and-seek;
- crayons and floor polish on the first day of school;
- cold honeydew at a housewarming party;
- old-fashioned pink roses at the front gate;
- decaying leaves and pine needles in the forest;
- hot oil and machinery (grandfather’s workshop);
- chlorine at the municipal pool;
- the overgrown, past-its-prime smell of early September;
- cut grass, pond water, wet soil, salt water, March mud, the first drops of rain ….

Good luck!

Information Sources: 

1) Dowdey, Sarah.  "How Smell Works"  29 October 2007.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/smell.htm>  21 July 2014.

2)  Fields, Helen.  “Fragrant Flashbacks: Smells Rouse Early Memories” April 2012.  Association for Psychological Science. <http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2012/april-12/fragrant-flashbacks.html>  21 July 2014.

Further Reading:

3) A Nose for the Rose -- http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-04/features/sc-home-0528-garden-rose-nose-20120604_1_scent-fragrance-smell

4) Roses and their Fragrance -- http://perrysperennials.info/articles/rosefrag.html

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Well ... I hope you did like this Ghost Writer post by Jen and of course I hope she has given help to us all to use more senses, in this case 'smell'. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku based on this post with us all.
This post is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until August 8th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, forest, later on.