Dreams of spring – Tanka – September 12, 2016

Carpe Diem Special #218 Dolores’ 2nd “dreaming of spring”

This is the second special dedicated to Dolores of   “Ada’s Poetry Alcove”, a tanka about life’s cycle:

autumn
flowers drop their petals
summer gone
they sleep in cold earth
dreaming of spring

© Dolores

And here is our host’s lovely tanka:

a last leaf
fights with the fall storm
its color fades
struggling against the wind
it surrenders

© Chèvrefeuille

And now for my attempt:

autumn
as two lovers kiss
on a park bench
even without blackbird song
spring dreams return

© Gsk ‘16

Carpe Diem Haiku Special – July 28, 2016

 

Cypress trees

I’ve been off again and although the hotel advertised  wi-fi it wasn’t at all efficient!  Anyway, I’m back and I will try to make up for my absence!

I have Carpe Diem Haiku Kai as my opening page on my browser and so I was able to immediately see this lovely prompt dedicated to the renowned haiku poet and anthologist of women’s haiku Patricia Donegan.  Here are the two haiku that Chèvrefeuille used for the post:

As rain drops diminish
I hear the tapping
of the monk’s wooden bell.

Tonight
the cypress tree & I
lean into the wind.

© Patricia Donegan

As you know the purpose of the Carpe Diem Haiku Special is to fall into the spirit of the poet and their poetry and try to write in the same spirit as the author.  Here is my attempt:

under rain and wind
bending along the trail
the tree and the monk

© Gsk ’16

 

 

Carpe Diem Special – Mandarin Duck by Buson – July 14

For today’s Carpe Diem Special a haiku by Yosa Buson:

mandarin duck –
rain falls silently
from an oak

© Yosa Buson (1716-1783)

Mallards on Lake Mattis – Champagne, Illinois

mallard ducks –
splashing water drops
in the grass

Gsk ’16

Desert Rose – Shadorma and Tilus – May 1, 2016

the desert
as the wind whispers
the sun burns
life hides deep
under the stony shadows
of a desert rose

© G.s.k. ‘16

in his blue veil he rode –
the desert
rose
😉

© G.s.k. ‘16

B&P’s Shadorma & Beyond – April 30, 2016 – I used the video from Paloma’s lovely prompt – but wasn’t really feeling too horsey today … so I wrote about the Sahara … where the desert rose – a rock formation – can be found … in the shadow perhaps we’d find a small insect – like a scorpion 😉

 

Carpe Diem Special #208 Sara McNulty’s 4th “fantasy” shadorma – here is our last celebratory post in honour of Sara McNulty  who won the Carpe Diem Kukai dedicated to time.

shadorma — a non-rhyming six-line poem in 3/5/3/3/7/5 — or a tilus. A tilus is a non-rhyming, 3-line poem with a syllable count of 6-3-1.

Carpe Diem Special and a Note – Kikôbun – April 23, 2016

L.caprifolium, Chèvrefeuille

A late afternoon memory of when I was a child;  whilst playing with my best friend, we each plucked a flower and sucked the clear liquid that dripped from it.  We giggled enjoying the marvellous gift of the honeysuckle, pretending to be bees.

honeysuckle
even now this sweet nectar
brightens my evening

© G.s.k. ‘16

 

Carpe Diem Special #207 Sara McNulty’s third “taste of nature”

Taste Of Nature

A child in summer, carrying a tin pail, runs down a dirt hill where blackberries, fat and ripe, cluster together ready for picking. She places some in the pail, some on her tongue, where warm juices burst, and stain her mouth purple. Bzz! Bzz! Ouch! A jealous bee stings her on the leg.

taste of nature–
sweet blackberry bushes
sing to child and bees

© Sara McNulty

photo and haiku © Chèvrefeuille

(I’ve been off-line for most of the week because I’ve succumbed to intestinal influenza.  There are some days which are a little better than others, but it remains difficult to sit at the keyboard with cramps, which distracts me from  writing.  I hope to be completely recovered soon … Bastet)

 

Naturalness – Haiku – March 23, 2015

tiny flowers
under the persimmon tree
the snow has melted

spring delight
with a bee in its bonnet
a dandy lion

© G.s.k. ‘16

Carpe Diem Special #203 Basho’s disciples: Mukai Kyorai’s “Master of Persimmons”

Carpe Diem Special – Hattori Ransetsu (1654-1707) – March 6, 2016

Basho’s Disciples  (Shoomon)

“Ransetsu was a disciple of Basho, and his allegiance was so strong that when he died Ransetsu is said to have shaved his head and embraced Buddhism. Basho is said to have remarked “I cannot equal Ransetsu in poetical austerity.”
Just like Basho, Ransetsu also spent time travelling and recorded this in his dairies with haiku. Ransetsu was counted by Master Yosa Buson as one of four great haiku poets to be visited by aspiring poets.

The Haiku of Ransetsu are marked by the presence of compassion, and the most famous haiku of Ransetsu is probably this one about the childless woman:

The childless woman,
How tender she is
To the dolls!

© Ransetsu (Tr. R.H.Blyth)”

Here is my attempt to write in Ransetsu’s style:

like a daffodil
she stands in the rain
bent under tears

© G.s.k. ‘16

Carpe Diem Special #200 Basho’s disciples: Ransetsu’s “against the blue”

In the C.D. Special there are many other poems by Ransetsu which are a delight to read – these are dedicated to Basho himself:

one leaf falls
now, another leaf falls
in the wind

At dusk the harvest moon
paints a pine-tree
against the blue

In stony moonlight
hills and fields on every side
white and bald as eggs …

Above the pilgrims
chanting on a misty road
wild geese are flying

New year’s day
The sky is cloudless;
Sparrows are gossiping

© Ransetsu (Tr. unknown)

And here is Chèvrefeuille’s inspired haiku:

against the dark sky
the statue of Basho seems to come alive
rustling of leaves

© Chèvrefeuille

For more information please click the link above.

Spring – haiku – January 28, 2016

 

riotous blossoms
fill the gardens and pathways
new bird’s nests

white water and blossoms
walking in the country-side
heavy with perfume

friends and family
sitting in the blossom rain
first spring picnic

© G.s.k. ‘16

Carpe Diem Special #194 A Trip Along Memory Lane — with a twist

The twist is that though our host had created a new prompt, he never published it, here’s the story:

“Let me tell you which special feature I am talking about. This feature I created shortly after our first month of inspirational music, but I never dared to publish it, because of its likeness with Imagination.

This special feature I had titled “Carpe Diem Awakens your Muse” and the goal was to share a video for your inspiration. These videos would be all about nature and so … after thinking and re-thinking this I decided to bring this special feature in our last CD Special of January.

Credits: Sparrow on Lotus (logo CD Awakens Your Muse)

The goal of this CD-Special is to watch a video, look at the images, listen to the music and become one with the scene(s) in the video and awaken your muse and write/compose an all new haiku, tanka or other Japanese poetry form.”

fragile beauty
the shining wind* from the east
plays with cherry blossom

from far away
the sound of a temple bell
welcomes spring

cherry blossoms bloom
bare branches in designer cloths
children’s laughter

© Chèvrefeuille

Carpe Diem Haiku Special – Haibun – December 19, 2015

Walking through a carpet of crisp coloured leaves, my mind returns to childhood and other leaves.

Autumn was a wonderful time to be a child when I was growing up. We children would pull out the rakes and begin to gather the leaves together into a huge mound and then jump into the leaves.  The smell of the earth seemed to be all around us, the crackling and swishing sound of the leaves excited us as we pretended to swim in an ocean of leaves.  Afterwards the leaves would have to be gathered up again into another hill of colour.

We could pass hours like this but finally Dad came out reminding us that we were making that mound of leaves for a reason.  The reason was that we were going to make a bonfire.  As the sun began to sink, Dad lit the fire and the leaves went up in a blaze of glory.  Once the fire died down, he threw a pail of water onto them and we scattered the wet ash around the lawn.  The last ritual of autumn was then about to begin.

Mom had prepared hot chocolate.  We sat around the kitchen table as she poured the dark sweet liquid over a snow-white marshmallow, put the cup onto a plate for each of us and added some hot buttered toast.  I think no chore was ever enjoyed more than leaf-raking in the autumn.

a carpet of leaves
the smell of earth abounds
childhood memories

© G.s.k. ‘15

Carpe Diem Special #187 Georgia’s 3rd, a haibun “idyllic spring”

Assistenza al Pubblico (Assistance to the Public) – Haibun – December 18, 2015

 

Chiusa in un silenzio nato dallo sconforto, rifletto sulla natura umana. Ognuno in realtà, malgrado sia nato in una comunità, ragiona e cammina come un’entità, solo.

Inutile parlare di solidarietà.  Raramente, per quanto esprimiamo i buoni sentimenti, andiamo oltre il nostro comodo, i nostri sentimenti ed i nostri bisogni.

Quando succede, e succede prima o poi, che abbiamo bisogno di chi ci stia vicino, perché ci troviamo proiettati in un mare sconosciuto, quelli designati per aiutarci non solo non ci aiutano, ma ci creano ulteriori sconforti. Questo non perché le persone siano cattive o senza cuore, no. E’ perché sono esseri umani, pieni di buoni sentimenti certo, ma impregnati dei propri bisogni, a tal punto da non accorgersi di quanta sofferenza creano a quelle persone che si sono ripromessi di assistere.

Ognuno in realtà, malgrado sia nato in una comunità, ragiona e cammina come un’entità, solo …

ghiacciata
quest’alba d’inverno
una lacrima

© G.s.k. ‘15

Closed in my silence, born from discouragement, I reflect on human nature.  Each one of us, though born in a community, thinks and walks alone, a single entity.

It’s useless to talk about solidarity.  Usually, for all that we talk and express these warm feelings, we rarely go beyond our own comfort, sentiments or needs.

When it happens and it happens sooner or later,  that we need someone near, because we find ourselves projected into uncharted waters, those designated to help us, not only do not help, but create further suffering.  This is not because these persons are bad or heartless, no, it’s because they’re human beings, certainly full of good feelings, but brimming with their own needs to such a point that they are unaware of the suffering they create to those whom they’ve promised to assist.

Closed in my silence, born of discouragement, I reflect on human nature.  Each one of us, though born in a community, thinks and walks alone, a single entity.

frozen
this winter dawn
a tear

© G.s.k. ‘15

Carpe Diem Special #187 Georgia’s 3rd, a haibun “idyllic spring”