Let us try to make a Pi-ku poem with the following digits(3,14159) the lines of the Pi-ku and the syllables-count would become the following:
1st line 3 syllables; 2nd line 1 syllable; 3rd line 4 syllables; 4th line 1 syllable; 5th line 5 syllables and the 6th line would be 9 syllables. To me this sounds great and will be for sure a challenge. So let me try to make my Pi-ku longer with those new lines and their syllables-count:
the sun rises the heat already tangible mist spirals above the stream another day starts in mysterious ways
Walking in the rain, one can often be distracted from the bigger picture of what life is all about. I was thinking about the living lesson which is the Dalai Lama one morning as the damp winter chill penetrated my old bones and specifically : “The purpose of our lives is to be happy”.
How odd to think that our purpose isn’t to save the world from hunger perhaps or injustice and how wise. Living in the world, in our proper place, that of being one of the infinite bits of the whole, is so much better than the grandiose ideal of semi godhood we seem to want to impose upon ourselves. If our purpose is to be happy we should remember that being happy promotes happiness. Have you ever seen the infectious reaction around a truly happy person.
inside a raindrop
infinite worlds evolve
in happiness
flashing lights glare
Christmas trees line the streets
and homeless beggars
shops full of goods
credit cards over-drawn
it’s Christmas time
preparations made
news of the world is of war
inside people’s homes
no peace nor goodwill
brighten the world on this day
and death takes its toll
§§§§
Choka Meditation
wonderful ideal
denies dark reality
mankind seeking peace
a seed planted long ago
we are all one race
religion – a link to God
our planet our home
to overcome finite thought
a difficult task
to love who is different
outside our closed minds
takes so much work – so much time
no sweet sentiments
though they give us some hope
will change our cold hearts
illumination
strips off these darkened veils
allows the warm light
to penetrate in our souls
and makes the ideal – our life
§§§§§§§§
Tanka Meditation
sitting in this room
surrounded by light and love
Christmas glows this morn
this splendid ideal of hope
a gift yet unopened
The last episode of Carpe Diem Seven Days Before Christmas is “meditation” don’t be afraid. I’m sure that many know the history of the world, including the creation of our modern Christmas. Nor can we deny that in humanity’s long history there has ever been a time of true peace, nor are we so blind not to see inequality, poverty created by the rich or fanaticism born of narrow minds. One could fill volumes of what is wrong with this world and indeed there are people who do just that and become very popular creating movements of hatred and destruction. Our hearts sing the loudest when we sing for vengeance. That’s how we are made.
The only hope for true peace is to understand who we are. We must understand that our hearts are more swayed by hatred and fear than love and hope, because that’s the easiest road; It was woven into our DNA in a time when we lived in a savanna and our survival depended on fighting to save our lives. However, in these millennium, humanity itself has changed. Our creations help many enjoy a life which is carefree and without want and we could extend this to all if we realized that now that instinct for hatred is not only demode, but terribly dangerous to our very survival.
Sweet dreams of sugar plums won’t dance in my head tonight. My dreams are turned towards a vision of one world, one people and one holy thought – peace, with or without belief in a religion.
the path is thorny
the goal just beyond our reach
don’t be afraid – love
An oddquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem with seventeen syllables in five lines: 1, 3, 5, 7, 1 created by Glenda L. Hand. The oddquain may stand alone, or it may be combined / modified as follows:
Oddquain Sequences – a longer poem made of several oddquains;
Crown Oddquain – a series of five oddquains;
Reverse Oddquain – an oddquain with a reverse pattern of 1-7-5-3-1;
Oddquain Butterfly – a nine-line stanza with 1-3-5-7-1-7-5-3-1. For example:
Celebration (Butterfly Oddquain)
Child
dances in
September’s swirl of
leaves, golden colors form her
skirt
of dazzling freedom, twirling
into the final
fall to earth’s
arms
In Val Padana
out walking in cold winter
from the bogs arise
the misty fogs of evening
there, not far away,
mournful, a lonesome dog cries
in sad bitterness
the passing of summer life
and warm nights – now gone …
clinging cloying cold wet fog
falls in Padua
I, walk alone in the fog
in muffled silence –
swishing by a car passes
then in renewed calm
a caress of sodden hands
a cold emptiness
and yet that peaceful quiet
seems to me a balm
(envoy or hanka)
ah – the winter fog
meditation comes with ease
in misty land clouds
the “here and now” stands close by
a step from eternity
I was looking for a little quick history of the chronological appearances of the various poetic forms in Japanese … and I came across this lovely site: A Crash Course in Japanese Poetry I won’t say it’s the most comprehensive or even the most academic … but it certainly is very fun and fundamental accurate.
In the beginning there was waka:, which was borrowed from the Chinese by Japanese writers as was katauta, one of the most popular forms was the choka , often sung and about epic subjects, sedoka, tanka and an oddity called the bussokusekika – a tanka with 3 7 onji finishing lines, which are called waka.
Only later poetry was called kanshi because it was written in Japanaese (with kanji) by Japanese… (the only one I haven’t tried is the bussokusekika) 😉
under the raging storm
the willow bends graciously
adapting
§
in the woods
the path winds round the trees
under wind and sky
adapting to the seasons
wise traveller’s reach their goal
G.s.k. ’14
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ù
We are halfway over our Stepping Stone path to … goal, a traditional tea ceremony. This week we will step on the stone of adaptability.
What does this mean? To get to our life’s goal we have to be flexible like [a] reed in the wind. We have to adapt to what God or Spirit brings on our life’s path. To finally complete our life’s task we have to follow the path of life.
That path has a lot of crossroads, curves and obstacles for us. Every day we have to look at what we have to do.
Can I do it? Is it possible? Do you have boundaries? We have to be flexible and adaptive but never beyond our own boundaries and rules.
Written by Chèvrefeuille
reach for the sun bow with the wind reed will never break
Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).
Noreen Crone-Findlay talks about the crafts she loves with her friend, Tottie Tomato. They'll be sharing tutorials, how to's and step by steps for spool knitting, crochet, doll making, small loom weaving, wood working, paper crafts and all manner of other fun crafts. This is a family friendly blog.
Carpe Diem's Tanka Splendor is part of the Carpe Diem Haiku Family. It's a weekly tanka-meme in which you can write and share tanka inspired on a given prompt every Saturday (mostlty, sometimes it will be on another day).
Bastet and Sekhmet's Library 