Morning Haiku and Waka – January 24, 2015

Credits: Sheperd’s Purse (Nazuna)

Shepherd’s Purse

lost in the tall grass
rows of tiny white flowers
shepherd’s-purse

summer delight
found a little treasure trove
white shepherd’s-purse

© G.s.k. ‘15

furu hata ya nazuna hana saku kakine kana

if you look closely
a Shepherd’s Purse flowering
underneath the hedge

© Matsuo Basho (1686)

“look granddad”
my granddaughter shows me Shepherd’s Purse
“a money-purse”.

© Chèvrefeuille

Daisies

Daisies

pretty white daisy’s
dusting the summer fields
among the grapes

poppies and daisy’s
fields covered in red and white
hazy summer dreams

the girls dreams
he loves me he loves me not
a headless daisy

© G.s.k. ‘15**

(** I didn’t realize that there was a variation for the daisy prompt … to create an 8 stanza renga (or three tanka), so I wrote and posted it on the Bastet’s Waka Library.)

And here is a series of haiku written about daisies!

sitting silent still
low to earth, resting old bones
the daisies still grow.
© Caroline Brown

A misty light fog
hiding spring daisies in bloom
lifts with dawns sunrise
© Travis Morgan

poppies and Daisies
among the swaying wheat sheaves
a field mouse nibbles
© marycec

around the mansion
daisies standing strong together
after the storm

miracles happen
in the tiniest things
daisies blooming

thousand daisies
around the farmer’s house –
lowing of a cow

© Chèvrefeuille

Today’s post is a combination of two prompts … The first one is dedicated to the shepherds purse … a tiny white flower which is considered one of the seven sacred herbs among the Japanese.  Here is the Link.

The second series is dedicated to the daisy in the Little Creatures weekly series at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. Here’s an extract from the post, which I found very interesting:

Victorian Interpretation:  Daisies have many different meanings attached to them.  In the Victorian age, it meant innocence, purity, and loyal love.  It also means that you’ll keep someone’s secret.  You’re saying that “I vow never to tell anyone” – when you give someone a daisy.

Superstitions:  Based on Scottish lore, daisies were referred to as gools.  For every farmer who owns a wheat field, they have an employee called the gool rider.  They had the task of removing the daisies from the fields.  For these farmers, if a big crop of daisies was found in your field, you had to pay a fine in the form of a castrated ram.

For the Celts, daisies were thought to be the spirits of children who died when they were born.  It’s God’s way of cheering them up when He created the daisies and sprinkled them on the earth.  This has a big connection to daisies symbolizing innocence.

What’s the meaning of Daisies:

Daisies are flowers that mean different things to different people.  It can mean cheerfulness particularly for the yellow colored blossoms and it can mean youthful beauty and gentleness.  Some people look at the daisy to be a symbol of good luck.  However, the most popular meanings attached to the daisy are – loyal love, innocence and purity.  It’s also a taken to convey the message – “I’ll never tell”.Apart from the Celtic legend that daisies were the spirits of children, the symbol of innocence also comes from the story about a dryad who oversaw meadows, forests and pastures.  One of the nymphs, Belides danced around with her nymph sister when the god of the orchards, Vertumnus saw her.  To make sure that she escapes his attentions, she turned herself into a daisy thus preserving her innocence.In terms of loyal love, daisies are used by women particularly in the Victorian age to see which suitor loves them the most.  By picking on the flower’s petals, a woman would know who loves her and who does not.

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai – Little Creatures