The Cuckoo – Troiku – April 27, 2016

above the roof-tops
looking for a mate and host
the cuckoo calls

above the roof-tops
the cuckoo flies like a hawk
small birds hide

looking for a mate and host
thief and Romeo
cuckoo – cuckoo

the cuckoo calls
lazily from dawn to dusk
through spring and summer

© G.s.k. ‘16

Carpe Diem Theme Week 3: Magnolia Blossoms, haiku by Soseki Natsume: episode 7

classical kigo hototogisu (cuckoo)

kaero to naka zu ni warae hototogisu

home…
laugh, not cry
cuckoo

© Soseki Natsume

naku nara ba mangetsu ni nake hototogisu

if you want to sing
sing under the full moon
cuckoo

© Soseki Natsume

Common cuckoo

Carpe Diem Theme Week 3 – Watch Birth and Death – April 23, 2016

sprout to fruit
even as these cherries bloom
like snow – petals fall

© G.s.k. ‘16

Carpe Diem Theme Week 3: Magnolia Blossoms, haiku by Soseki Natsume; 4 watch birth and death

watch birth and death:
the lotus has already
opened its flower.

© Soseki Natsume (Tr. Soiku Shigematsu)

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″

Writing With Soseki – Haiku Haitaishi* – January 15, 2016

 

people of my age –
with the passing of years
less impurities to cleanse

©  Natsume Soseki

§§§§§

impetuous stream
flows past a weeping willow
– a hidden tear drop

ah – the geese fly south
leaving the ducks and blackbirds
by the lonely stream

[morning’s dark grey sky]
contrasting bright coloured leaves
in a flowing stream

the shell is empty –
lying in the wet green grass
careless stream flows by

ah now, observe life
leaves, birds and dead empty shells
endlessly flowing streams

© G.s.k. ‘16

(* I was happy to learn that haitaishi  is the name of linked verse on a set theme – not just linked haiku.)

Today’s episode at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is a “Sparkling Star” , that is the introduction of a famous haiku poet of the past from whom we try to inspire ourselves.  The Rules of Sparkling Stars are particular:

Those new haiku, inspired on the ‘masterpiece’, have to follow the classical rules of haiku:

1. 5-7-5 syllables
2. a kigo (or season word)
3. a kireji (or cutting word, in Western languages mostly interpunction)
4. a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water
5. a deeper meaning (could be Zen-Buddhistic or other spiritual or religious thought)
6. and the first and the third line are interchangeable

These are  the haiku written by Natsume Soseki

over the wintry
forest, winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow

the lamp once out
cool stars enter
the window frame

on New Year’s Day
I long for my parents
before I was born

people of my age –
with the passing of years
less impurities to cleanse

when they strike the bell
these ginkgo leaves are falling –
Temple Kencho-ji

the worldly desires,
all one hundred and eight are gone –
this spring morning

©  Natsume Soseki