Carpe Diem #951 blossom

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's springtime and everywere you look trees and bushes are starting to bloom. All those wonderful blossoms showing the beauty of our nature. Finally nature celebrates new life after the long cold and dark winter.

Today our prompt is blossom and (as you maybe know) I am a fan of cherry blossoms especially the blossoms of the old Sakura in my backyard. It's already in full bloom and I am proud (again) on its beauty.

My Sakura (photo © Chèvrefeuille)

All those beautiful blossoms ... they have to inspire you ... so this is the challenge for today: choose a blossom and create a haiga with it.

Of course I have done that myself too ... and I think you all will expect me to use a photo of my old Sakura .... well you are right.

old sakura
regains its strength
winter departs

photo & haiku © Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 13th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, new life, later on. For now .... have fun, be inspired and share your haiga with us all ...

Carpe Diem Special #205 Sara McNulty's first "tree frog serenade"

© xdesktopwallpapers

!! Sorry for being late !!

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at our first CD-Special for this month. As you all know our featured haiku poetess is Sara McNulty of Purple Pen In Portland. Sara was the winner of the "time"-kukai. With being the winner she won the opportunity to be our featured haiku poetess.

I love to share the following haiku created by Sara:

hot night
chorus outside my window
tree frog serenade

© SaraMcNulty

Sara is an awesome haiku poetess with (in my opinion) a very nice and personal style of writing. In our 2nd CD-Special of this month I will tell you all something more about Sara.

As you all know the goal of the CD-Specials is to create / compose an all new haiku (or tanka) inspired on the given one and trying to touch the spirit of the haiku poet.


Shoson 1877 - 1945, " Skylark in Flight above Blossoming Peach"

Here is my attempt:

in touch with the gods
pine trees reaching for heaven -
skylarks sing their song

© Chèvrefeuille

I couldn't come up with a new one so I ran through my archives.

This CD-Special is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 12th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, blossom, later on. For now .... have fun!

Carpe Diem #950 dreams

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to be "back in business" and it's good to read that you all are glad that CDHK is back.

Marten Luther King once said "I have a dream". His dream is still alive in this time of life and I think his dream will stay a dream for a long time. I really belief that there will be a time in which everyone is equal notwithstanding religious background or race. Maybe I am a dreamer, but ... well let me be a dreamer than.

I am a fan of Supertramp so I just had to share this video with you for your inspiration. Today our prompt to create haiga with is dreams ...

You all will have dreams, just like me. Once I dreamed that I should write a novel, and I did. Once I had a dream to become a haiku poet, and I did. Once I had a dream to become a dad, and I did I even have become a granddad and maybe, if my life will go on as it does now I will (I hope and I dream) become a great-granddad.
Once I had a dream to create a website in which haiku poets could share their haiku ... and I did. Thanks to you all my dear haiku family members CDHK became real and CDHK is still real.

clouds
changing every moment
dreams come alive

© Chèvrefeuille

photo © wikipedia - haiku © Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 11th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our next episode, the first CD-Special of April by our "time' kukai winner Sara McNulty, later on. Have fun!

Carpe Diem Extra April 7th 2016 obituary

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Just because I am so grateful for all of your support during the last two weeks I love to share a photo of my dad. You may say it's a kind of obituary, but its just to give a face to the words I wrote here at CDHK during these last weeks.

My father was born on April 6th 1929, he had a tough life, but became "king" of his own family. He stood at the birth of the polder, the place where I am living. My dad built the polder from the mud to what it has become today. The polder was his life and he shared his love for the polder with us his family and a lot of friends and colleagues.
My dad was (at least to me) the best dad and friend I could ever have and I will miss him dearly, but I will remember him as the father who was my role model, my teacher ... he made me whom I am now. He and I could have discussions about very different themes until far beyond midnight. I can only hope that I, maybe just a little, am such a good father to my children and grandchildren.

spirit grows -
from the bottom of the pond
into the light
the Lotus reaches from the deep -
enlightenment

© Chèvrefeuille

Rest In Peace Dad ... March 29th 12:35 hr.

Carpe Diem #949 companionship

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's good to be back. After two weeks in which there were several occasions which made me sad. Yesterday we have buried my father. Together with family and friends we have brought him to his final resting place. It was a sad occasion, but it also gave us (my family) joy to remember dad as he was. There were tears, but also laughter as we heard the stories about my father. Yes it was sad, but we (my family and I) know that he has gone to his heavenly father reunited with his son (my brother) and all his loved ones who passed away already. Life goes on ... but my father will be missed forever.

Thank you all for your kind words and condolences. Thank you for understanding that I wasn't capable to host our loving family of haiku poets. Thank you ... from the bottom of my heart. This is what our family of haiku poets is ... a family of haiku loving, but also loving family.

Okay ... here we go again, back in business ... As you maybe have read in our prompt-list this month it's about haiga, imagination ... giving your haiku a face and all the prompts have to do with spring and are extracted from Jane Reichhold's "A Dictionary of Haiku". It's good to be here again and I hope this month will be a joyful one.

Last Tuesday (April 5th) my wife and I celebrated (of course not to big) our 25th wedding anniversary together with our friends and family. It was a great day. This is "the bridge" to our prompt of today, companionship. Twenty Seven years ago I met my wife and it was love at first sight. Not long after we fell in love we started living together and short before our marriage we were blessed with the birth of our youngest son (he is now 25 years) a few months after his birth we got married and two years later we sealed our marriage with the birth of our youngest daughter (now 23). Now we have a big family, four children (I have also two step-children), two children in law and seven grandchildren. We are truly blessed in our companionship.

together as one
two strong oaks entwined
friends forever

© Chèvrefeuille

photo © Pat Bean haiku © Chèvrefeuille

This CDHK-episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until April 10th at noon (CET). I will try to post our next episode, dreams, later on. For now ... have fun!

PS. I am still busy to check our Renga Party, but I hope to re-start it soon. Our planned e-books of the "winter" and "time" kukai and our second Theme Week will be available next week.
PPS.: I will publish our "missed" episodes of March in the Tokubetsudesu episodes of this month.

Carpe Diem Extra April 4th 2016 new promptlist

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I love to thank you all for your kind words, condolences and prayers sprinkled on me after my dad's death. Next Wednesday we will bring him to his final resting place and than we hope to get our life on wheels again. It will not be easy, but I am looking forward to the future.

Thank you all for your love. It's very clear that Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is really a warmhearted and loving family of haiku poets.

Today I had the opportunity (and maybe the need) to focus on something else than upcoming Wednesday. So I have created our new prompt-list. As you will understand this prompt-list starts after dad's funeral on April 7th, so this will be a "short" month.

This month I love to challenge you to create haiku (or tanka) on prompts about spring and to create haiga (or tank-art) with them.

You can find our new prompt-list (starting on April 7th) above in the menu.

Carpe Diem Logo April 2016

Have a great day and I hope to see you all again at CDHK as we will start with a new month full of wonderful spring prompts and haiga.

Namaste,

Chèvrefeuille, your host.

Update: Dad's Funeral

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Thank you all for your kind words and condolences. My dad is home and his funeral will be Wednesday April 6th 2016 1.00 PM (CET). It's good to know that our haiku family is such a warmhearted and loving family.
Thank you all for your love and prayers.

not enough words
to say thank you
I bow my head

© Chèvrefeuille, your host

Namaste

front funeral card

inside (right page) funeral card