pale sunshine
caresses the snowflake
puddle of water
ice fog
white lace on leafless trees
fall becomes winter
gsk ’17
Transformations – December 15, 2017
8
Tag Archives: Carpe Diem Haiku Kai
Fish and Frogs – Waka – September 10, 2016
Today I’m looking at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai‘s prompt using the modern kigo offered to us by Jane Reichhold – fish and frogs. Though particular, I enjoyed writing the ku for her kigo – especially as it brought me back in time to June of this year … here are the examples offered to us by Jane Reichhold through our host Chèvrefeuille (and his haiku effort):
heron silence
landing in the middle
of frog silence
silence
larger on the lily pad
a frog
delicate pastels
in the pain of a pinch
from a crab
new moons
at the edge of the pond
fish milt
© Jane Reichhold
croaking of frogs
resonates through the valley –
cry of a new-born
© Chèvrefeuille
Now for my efforts:
under the lilies
playing hide and seek
gold-fish
© Gsk ‘16
storm clouds
gather on the horizon
a frog croaks
old frog
jumps off its lily pad
rain drops fall
in father’s old pond
swim memories of his love
mother sighs
life –
hidden under lily pads
fish and frogs
© Gsk ‘16
I took many photographs of my dad’s fish pond before my mom passed away in late spring. I enjoyed watching the life on and under the pond – from the koi to the dragon flies and frogs .. it’s a delightful microcosm of life and wonder. Now both my mother and father are gone and I guess it’s pretty unlikely I’ll see the pond again. But the memories will always be with me.
Daily Haiku and Waka – Mini Anthology – July 28, 2016
June 18, 2016
anonymous –
awaiting departure calls
travel daze
© Gsk ’16
June 19, 2016
the sound of water
serenity in chaos
St Louis hotel
© Gsk ’16
June 20, 2016
– Porto Marghera
home is always beautiful
in all its aspects
© Gsk ’16
July 23, 2016
every year –
summer Italian style
sand, sun and sea
© Gsk ’16
July 25, 2016
Rimini
amarcord and Fellini
on harbour canal
© Gsk ’16
Rimini
amarcord and Fellini
on harbour canal
© Gsk ’16
July 27, 2016
thunder-storm
in a flash of light
the sky opens
© Gsk ’16
Morning Haiku and Waka – July 16, 2016
passing reflection
as the sun rises at dawn
a last adieu
© Gsk ’16
Passing of Spring – Tanka – May 1, 2016
blossoms shrivel
gone the season’s cool rains
a cloud of midges
born at spring’s passing –
frogs in the old pond splash
© G.s.k. ‘16
Kites – Tanka – April 28, 2016
a kite flying high
dips, dives then goes round and round
held back by a string
a dragon, a key or love
only the kite runner knows
© G.s.k. ‘16
Rainmakers – American Troiku – April 27, 2016
cicadas and locusts
nothing else will grow this year
without rainmakers
cicadas and locusts
choke in the black blizzards too
they ain’t rainmakers
nothing will grow this year
but bank mortgages
if rainmakers fail
without rainmakers
this land will just blow away
pack-up and follow
© G.s.k. ‘16
Magnolias – Haibun – April 27, 2016
Magnolia Blossoms – June 2, 2014
For a month on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, we were often asked to write about magnolias in one form or another. As often happens with prompts born either with Japanese season words or from a country that has nothing to do with Italian culture and climate, one can either invent or write about something else. With 210 types of magnolias (I’m presuming both bushes and trees) throughout the planet, there’s no surprise that the colours vary … but also the period of the year when they flower. We must presume that the Hapsburgs had a form of magnolia planted in the 1800s in Arco’s lanes and parks which flowers later than those in Holland!
flower-less lane
Arco’s magnolias bloom
in May sunshine
© G.s.k. ‘16
Magnolia Blossoms – Haibun – April 18, 2016
Arco, the town I where I live in Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy was once, and not so long ago, an Austrian health station. The micro-climate, created by Lake Garda has made the area’s climate particularly mild and the “Ora” the daily wind that comes up off the lake in the summer clears away humidity and eventual pollutants.
Magnolia Lane runs between the back of the old Casino and the most important Sanatorium of the age (now converted into administrative buildings) leads to the centre of town and the central city park. In spring when the magnolias bloom not only is it beautiful to walk down, with their large white flowers but the delicate perfume that fills the air is something close to divine.
in magnolia lane
the blossoms catch the rain
as blackbirds sing
© G.s.k. ‘16
Carpe Diem Theme Week 3: Magnolia Blossoms haiku by Soseki Natsume
(My haibun was written to honour Soseki Natsume, celebrated by Carpe Diem Haiku Kai yesterday.)
he sky I see
seems full of
magnolia blossoms
© Soseki Natsume
“Sōseki Natsume (February 9, 1867-December 9, 1916) was born Natsume Kinnosuke. He is widely known as the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period. He was a scholar of British literature and a composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales. From 1984 to 2004, his portrait was featured on the Japanese 1000 yen note.
Natsume Kinnosuke was born in Babashita in the Edo region. He was adopted by a childless couple, but after their divorce, he was returned to his biological mother at age 9. However, his mother died only five years later.
While attending First Tokyo Middle School, he was enamored with Chinese literature. He went on to study architecture at Tokyo Imperial University.
In 1887, he met Masaoka Shiki who encouraged him to become a writer. From that point on, he chose the pen name Sōseki which means “stubborn” in Chinese. In 1893, he became a part-time teacher at the Tokyo Normal School while he studied as a graduate student.
Natsume began teaching at Matsuyama Middle School in 1895. During this time, he began publishing his haiku and Chinese poetry.
In 1900, he became the first Japanese English literary scholar and lived in poverty, loneliness, and mental problems while attempting to solidify his knowledge of English literature at the University College, London. After his return to Japan, he became a professor of English literature at Tokyo Imperial University.
He died of a stomach ulcer in 1916″
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