Carpe Diem Time Glass #21,

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Sunday again ... time for our weekly time challenge CD-Time Glass in which you have to respond on a given prompt and a given image with a haiku (or tanka) within 24 hours. This week I have chosen for a prompt which fits our central theme impressionism.
As you now when it is foggy the world looks spooky and very different ... it's almost as if you look at an impression of your own world. So this week's prompt is FOG.



 

What a wonderful image for your inspiration I think ... a spooky town to help your muse to catch a haiku or tanka.

 

You have to respond within 24 hours so this episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until Monday February 16th at 7.00 PM (CET). So you have just 24 hours to respond.



Carpe Diem #669, Scream

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We are going further with our exploration of impressionism here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. And today I have an impresionism/expressionism (?) painting which you either like or dislike.
"The Scream" is a very wellknown painting and as I stated above you like or dislike it. I am one of the people who dislikes this painting, but I know there are many people who like it, maybe that's because of the idea behind it. Let me tell you a little bit more about the ispirational background of this painting by Edvard Munch.

Credits: The Scream Edvard Munch

The original German title given to the work by Munch is Der Schrei der Natur ("The Scream of Nature"). The Norwegian word skrik usually is translated as scream, but is cognate with the English shriek. Occasionally, the painting also has been called The Cry.  
In his diary in an entry headed, Nice 22 January 1892, Munch described his inspiration for the image:

[...] “One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord—the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.” [...]

This memory was later rendered by Munch as a poem, which he hand-painted onto the frame of the 1895 pastel version of the work:

I was walking along the road with two friends
the sun was setting
suddenly the sky turned blood red
I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence
there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city
my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety
and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

© Edvard Munch

Among theories advanced to account for the reddish sky in the background is the artist's memory of the effects of the powerful volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, which deeply tinted sunset skies red in parts of the Western hemisphere for months during 1883 and 1884, about a decade before Munch painted The Scream.
This explanation has been disputed by scholars, who note that Munch was an expressive painter and was not primarily interested in literal renderings of what he had seen. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the proximity of both a slaughterhouse and a lunatic asylum to the site depicted in the painting may have offered some inspiration. The scene was identified as being the view from a road overlooking Oslo, the Oslofjord and Hovedøya, from the hill of Ekeberg. At the time of painting the work, Munch's manic depressive sister Laura Catherine was a patient at the asylum at the foot of Ekeberg.

Edvard Munch (Source: Wikipedia)

In 1978, the Munch scholar Robert Rosenblum suggested that the strange, sexless creature in the foreground of the painting was inspired by a Peruvian mummy, which Munch could have seen at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. This mummy, which was buried in a fetal position with its hands alongside its face, also struck the imagination of Munch's friend Paul Gauguin: it stood as a model for the central figure in his painting, Human misery (Grape harvest at Arles) and for the old woman at the left in his painting, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (Source: Wikipedia)

I don't know if this painting is impressionism, but as I look at it and read the behind story then I think it's surely an impressionism painting ... the sexless creature has no real human features and the surroundings look more like an impression than the real world.

through the night
screeching tires resonate against the walls -
a hazy moon

(c) Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you did like this new episode and I hope it will inspire you all to write an all new haiku (or tanka) impression ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until February 18th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, bathing, later on.

Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars #18, John Stevenson's "the train"



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to create another episode of our special feature Sparkling Stars in which I introduce haiku written/composed by classical and non-classical haiku poets. Haiku which are in my opinion little stars, little sparkling stars.
For this episode I have sought for a non-classical haiku poet who's born in 1948 and lives in New York. After a brief biography I will share three haiku composed by him. I love to introduce to you John Stevenson.

John Stevenson (born 1948) is from Ithaca, New York. He lived in Buffalo for eight years, New York City for four years and has been living in the Albany area since 1980, where he has raised his son and worked as an administrator for the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (1980 - 1987) and Office of Mental Health (1987 to present).
From 1966 to 1972 John studied visual arts and theatre and from 1969 to 1975 he worked as an actor, with day jobs ranging from library aide to supervisor of a security patrol at Rich Stadium. Now he alternately bores and exasperates his son by commenting, while they are watching movies or television, “I worked with her. I worked with him.”
Since his first encounter with Playback Theatre in 1990, a form of theatre in which members of the audience tell stories from their own lives which are then enacted on stage, John has been completely absorbed with it, helping to start Pentimento Playback Theatre Company in 1992 and performing with them since then. A similar thing happened in relation to his poetry. His first publication was in 1956 and he has written poetry regularly since then. He encountered his first haiku (at a Playback Theatre conference) in 1992. Since then he has written almost nothing but haiku, senryu, haibun, rengay and renku.

John is a member of the Haiku Society of America, Haiku Poets of Northern California, the Yukei Teikei Haiku Society, and the Route 9 Haiku Group. (Source: Haijinx)

John Stevenson

Here are three haiku composed by Stevenson all three are about trains and I have tried to organize them to a little story:

the train picks up speed,
in a paper coffee cup
concentric waves

the river always
out there in the dark
late train home

coming home
on the train
... the backyards

(c) John Stevenson

An awesome trio I think ... it brought a haiku by Shiki in mind which we have used for prompt in our big five month July 2014.

smoke whirls
after the passage of a train -
young foliage

© Masaoka Shiki

All wonderful haiku with train as the theme in common, so I love to share one of my haiku with this same theme hidden in it with you all, maybe you can remember this haiku, because I wrote it earlier in July 2014 in response on the above haiku by Shiki.

under the full moon
the screech of a steam engine -
cherry blossoms shiver

© Chèvrefeuille

First Steam Engine Train

The goaL Sparkling Stars feature is to write a classical or non-classical haiku inspired on the haiku given, it's similar with our CD-Specials, but I love to challenge you all to use the classical (5-7-5) rule for the haiku. I didn't succeed in that, but maybe you can do it ... better. !! I have started a new weblog Carpe Diem's Tanka Shrine ... !!

This episode of our Sparkling Stars feature is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until next Saturday February 21st at noon (CET).

Carpe Diem #668, dreams

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

How do you like our journey through the world of Impressionism until now? For me its really an adventure, because I am not that familiar with Impressionism so to me its an eye-opener too. All those wonderful paintings I have already seen look like dreams ... and that brings me to our prompt for today dreams.
Once Martin Luther King said "I have a dream" and with him I can say that too. Once I had a dream to write a novel and God grace I have fulfilled that dream in 2007. A second novel followed. Another dream I had was "to become a wellknown haiku-poet" and that dream is still growing. With my first English haiku, which I wrote in 2005, that dream started to become true ... and now ... ten years later I have reached that dream ... here I am, the host of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai (CDHK), a weblog about haiku where I can share my knowledge and my haiku with the world ... and you my dear Haijin ... are the incentives to make CDHK even a better place to be. Without your participation I could not make CDHK and last but not least ... CDHK brought me in contact with wellknown haiku poets all over the world and with a great and loving haiku family ... you my dear Haijin. Thank you, Arigato, all for helping me to make CDHK the place to be if you like to write and share haiku. And what are your dreams? Do you have dreams?

ARIGATO

Well ... back to our prompt of today, dreams. I have found a wonderful post-impressionism painting by Henri Rousseau, The Dream. The Dream (French: Le Rêve, occasionally also known as Le Songe or Rêve exotique) is a large oil-on-canvas painting created by Henri Rousseau in 1910, one of more than 25 Rousseau paintings with a jungle theme. His last completed work, it was first exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants from 18 March to 1 May 1910, a few months before his death on 2 September 1910. Rousseau's earlier works had received a negative reception, but poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire remarked on its debut: "The picture radiates beauty, that is indisputable. I believe nobody will laugh this year."
The Dream is the largest of the jungle paintings. It features an almost surreal portrait of Yadwigha (Jadwiga), Rousseau's Polish mistress from his youth, lying naked on a divan to the left of the painting, gazing over a landscape of lush jungle foliage, including lotus flowers, and animals including birds, monkeys, an elephant, a lion and lioness, and a snake. The stylised forms of the jungle plants are based on Rousseau's observations at the Paris Museum of Natural History and its Jardin des Plantes. The nude's left arm reaches towards the lions and a black snake charmer who faces the viewer playing his flute, barely visible in the gloom of the jungle under the dim light of the full moon. A pink-bellied snake slithers through the undergrowth, its sinuous form reflecting the curves of the woman's hips and leg.

Credits: The Dream post-impressionism painting by Henri Rousseau

Suspecting that some viewers did not understand the painting, Rousseau wrote a poem to accompany it, Inscription pour La Rêve:

Yadwigha in a beautiful dream
Having fallen gently to sleep
Heard the sounds of a reed instrument
Played by a well-intentioned [snake] charmer.
As the moon reflected
On the rivers [or flowers], the verdant trees,
The wild snakes lend an ear
To the joyous tunes of the instrument.

One possible interpretation of the painting, offered by Rousseau in a letter to art critic André Dupont, is that it depicts a woman reclining on a couch in Paris, dreaming she is listening to a flute player in the jungle.

To make this episode complete I love to share a nice piece of Shakuhachi (Japanese Bamboo flute) music ... maybe this is a kind of music which the female on the painting did hear.

As you know we had a special feature at CDHK titled "Distillation" in which I gave a "long poem" to distil a haiku from. That's maybe a possibility for you to use for this episode. I first thought to do that myself, but I came up with another (beautiful) haiku.

This is the first version:

while the world sleeps
the birds of the night are singing their song
to honor the moon

(c) Chèvrefeuille

And I have tried to step in the footsteps of Jane and have tried to use her idea of making this haiku stronger by using less words, this is the second version.

world asleep
birds sing their song
moonlight serenade

(c) Chèvrefeuille

Well ... I hope you did like this episode and that it will inspire you to write/compose an all new haiku. This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until February 17th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, scream, later on. For now .... have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all.

Carpe Diem Extra 2015-9 On The Trail With Basho

Credits: Basho's Trail (photo © Michael Yamashita)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I love to make an announcement. In May 2015 I love to honor "my haiku-master" Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). All our daily prompts will have to do with Matsuo Basho and I will try to "revisit" (and maybe "revise") haiku composed by him and I will try to tell you all more about him and his influence on our beloved haiku. In May 2015 we will follow him on his journey into the deep north in our CD-specials. 

All the haiku which I will use will be haiku translated by Jane Reichhold ... to honor her too. I think she has meant a lot for the acceptation and appreciation of haiku worldwide as poetry. In May 2015 I will invite you all to submit haiku in the spirit of Matsuo Basho for our first Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Kukai. I will explain 'kukai' later on this month.

I am looking forward to this Basho-month and I hope you all will be thrilled too for this Basho-month and the upcoming first 'kukai' of our Haiku Kai.

moonless night...
a powerful wind embraces
the ancient cedars

© Matsuo Basho

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille, your host.

Chèvrefeuille, your host

Carpe Diem Special #132, Fuyuko Tomita's "the corner"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's time for another wonderful haiku written/composed by our featured (Dutch) haiku poetess Fuyuko Tomita. I think it's a beauty again, but this haiku is very different then we are used to I think. This haiku has four (4) lines and I am not sure if I could bring this back to three lines, so I haven't done that. I share it as she has done it on her website.

Kantooka  magatte shimatta  magarikado

Under a cold
street lamp
I’ve just turned
the corner

© Fuyuko Tomita

Credits: Japanese Street Lantern (photo © Jim Epler)

As you all know the goal of this CD-Special is to compose an all new haiku in the same sense, tone and spirit as the one given ... so here is my attempt to compose an all new haiku in (in hope) the same spirit as the one by Fuyuko Tomita.

rainy day
a stray tries to stay dry -
broken umbrella

© Chèvrefeuille

I hope the haiku by Fuyuko can be your source of inspiration and that I will read wonderful haiku inspired on this haiku.

This episode of our CD-Special will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until February 16th at noon (CET). I hope to publish our next episode, dream, later on. !! Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is now also on Tumblr !!

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #73, Suzanne's "Poppies"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Impressionism is our leading theme this month and I am glad that I have found a wonderful haiku to start this week's Tan Renga Challenge with. This week I have chosen to share a haiga by Suzanne of Art and Life She submitted it for our "poppies" prompt a few days ago.
As I visited her weblog and saw this haiga I was in awe ... what a great haiga she had shared on poppies and I just had to use it for a Tan Renga Challenge. So here it is (I will give the haiga also):

Credits: Haiga "poppies" by Suzanne of "Art and Life"

And here is the haiku:

red poppies of Troy
- the blood of the fallen
bright on the grass

© Suzanne

A wonderful "impression" and with the photo a strong haiga which only can leave you in awe I think.
The goal of this Tan Renga Challenge is to complete or continue it by writing/composing the second (two lined) stanza towards it. Tan Renga is a short chained verse written by two poets and looks very similar with Tanka, but Tanka is written by one poet. That second stanza has two lines with each 7 syllables, but that is, as you all know, not an obligation.

Here is my attempt to write a second stanza towards this beautiful haiku by Suzanne:

red poppies of Troy

- the blood of the fallen

bright on the grass                                (© Suzanne)

heritage of battles once fought

freedom lost forever ... silence               (© Chèvrefeuille)

That wasn't an easy task, but I succeeded. I tried to turn it in a positive way and I think this second stanza brings that, but maybe you, my dear readers, have other ideas about that. Feel free to share your thoughts.

This Tan Renga Challenge is open for your submissions today at noon (CET) and will remain open until next Friday February 20th at noon (CET). For now ... have fun!