Alone
The Swan – December 15, 2017
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Tag Archives: Riva del Garda (TN)
The Public Fountain – Kyrielle – April 29, 2016
drops of water in this fountain
blow in the wind now forgotten
no one can hear them any more
and none can see the river roar
days and nights pass, tumbling by
(even the fountain will grow dry)
all some day will pass through that door
where none can see the river roar
human endeavours, often fine
fall to decay as they decline
then war blossoms from hates of yore
’cause none can see the river roar
neglected fountain by the road
once a marvel – fresh water flowed
quenching the thirst of rich and poor
but now, none see the river roar
© G.s.k. ‘16
“It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. ”
Openness is an overarching concept or philosophy that is characterized by an emphasis on transparency and free, unrestricted access to knowledge and information, as well as collaborative or cooperative management and decision-making rather than a central authority. Openness can be said to be the opposite of secrecy.
Morning Haiku and Waka – Using Karumi (Haiga) – April 27, 2016
morning promenade
waddling off their breakfast
locals and tourists
© G.s.k. ‘16
Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #77 pickles (in the way of Basho) lost episode of March
Today Chèvrefeuille re-introduced the “karumi” writing technique. Here’s what he has to say about it:
“Bashô developed this concept during his final travels in 1693. Karumi is perhaps one of the most important and least understood principles of haiku poetry. Karumi can best be described as “lightness,” or a sensation of spontaneity. In many ways, karumi is a principle rooted in the “spirit” of haiku, rather than a specific technique. Bashô taught his students to think of karumi as “looking at the bottom of a shallow stream”. When karumi is incorporated into haiku, there is often a sense of light humour or child-like wonderment at the cycles of the natural world. Many haiku using karumi are not fixed on external rules, but rather an unhindered expression of the poet’s thoughts or emotions. This does not mean that the poet forgets good structure; just that the rules of structure are used in a natural manner. In my opinion, karumi is “beyond” technique and comes when a poet has learned to internalize and use the principles of the art interchangeably.
In a way it brought me another idea. Traditionally, and especially in Edo Japan, women did not have the male privilege of expanding their horizons, so their truth or spirituality was often found in the mundane. Women tend to validate daily life and recognize that miracles exist within the mundane, which is the core of haiku.There were females who did compose haiku, which were called “kitchen-haiku” by literati, but these “kitchen-haiku” had all the simplicity and lightness of karumi … In a way Basho taught males to write like females, with more elegance and beauty, based on the mundane (simple) life of that time.
Shiba Sonome, a female haiku poet, learned about karumi from Basho: “Learn about a pine tree from a pine tree, and about a bamboo plant from a bamboo plant.”
The poet should detach the mind from his own self. Nevertheless, some people interpret the word ‘learn’ in their own ways and never really ‘learn’. ‘Learn’ means to enter into the object, perceive its delicate life, and feel its feeling, whereupon a poem forms itself. Even a poem that lucidly describes an object could not attain a true poetic sentiment unless it contains the feelings that spontaneously emerged out of the object. In such a poem the object and the poet’s self would remain forever separate, for it was composed by the poet’s personal self.
Basho also said, “In my view a good poem is one in which the form of the verse, and the joining of its two parts, seem light as a shallow river flowing over its sandy bed”.
That, then, is karumi: becoming as one with the object of your poem … experiencing what it means to be that object … feeling the life of the object … allowing the poem to flow from that feeling and that experience.”
NaPoWriMo 2016 – ABC Poem – April 3, 2016
“After all is said and done
Bravery isn’t really
Courage.”
Dangling from a swing Jim said,
Even-toned and earnest.
“Fancy words and
Gorgeous monuments,
Hail the hero’s deeds,
It’s inevitable, even
Justifiable, to forget that they were men.
Knowledge of their frailties,
Lamentable bad habits and
Marred moral make-up may
Never be known at all –
Of course that changes nothing
Providing that we know that they’re
Quite like you or me.”
“Ridiculous!” young Edward shouted,
Seriously offended.
“That is a shabby thing to say my boy,
Ugly, I say and
Very shabby indeed, about those who’ve saved the day!”
“Why Eddy boy don’t get het up over some
Xeroxed copied heroes, hail rather those poor guys,
Yes those young bloods,
Zapped but nameless who fell by the tons.”
© G.s.k. ‘16
Today being Sunday, there will be no A to Z Poem …. have a great day!
Just a Note – February 10, 2016
Hello everyone!
Some people have expressed their worry because I’ve not been posting as much as usual and wonder if I’m alright. I’ve also been grumpy and have said I might just close the blogs down. But there’s nothing to worry about, I’m alright – it just seems that February is determined to be a rather hectic month and I’m feeling a bit flapped. I’ve been going to bed later than usual because of social affairs and have had early morning appointments .. which means that some mornings I have just the time necessary to fulfill my self-set obligations of writing a haiku for “No Five-Seven-Five”‘s NaHaiWriMo and my personal One Month of Haiga. I’m a morning person, and if I don’t write the first couple of hours in the morning I risk not writing at all.
I’m overcoming my nicotine drug habit, but one of the side-effects (which is thankfully wearing off) is a certain lack of concentration. So as I count one-month and one week cigarette free today, a few of the symptoms of underneath craving still make themselves felt. But by giving up caffeine and keeping a close watch on my diet, I’ve at least avoided other problems like insomnia and gaining weight. Usually people take one step at a time … they stop smoking then worry about losing weight. That didn’t seem like a wise solution for me – I prefer to workout the symptoms all at once.
Anyway … not to worry. I’m fine and all I need to do is find a way of focusing while relaxing. I hope to do some recouping this weekend and I certainly hope that March will have be calmer in the mornings, che sarà sarà!
Hope you’re all doing fine too!
Ciao for now, Bastet
NaHaiWriMo – Zero – February 10, 2016
NaHaiWriMo – February 3, 2016
Wild-life on a lake can be interesting … especially when you begin to recognize a certain duck, coot or gull. Lake Garda has several colonies of all three of these birds. There’s one gull who passes his mornings dive-bombing any other gull that tries to land on any of the pylons near where he happens to be roosting making a nuisance of himself, the odd male mallard who’s obviously from a mixed coupling who’s set up housekeeping with a certain lady mallard. And then there’s an old coot. He appears to be a loner swimming around honking and squawking and generally making a lot of racket. However when a female swims nearby he looses his hermit qualities rather quickly and tries to mount her. Eventually the females become irritated and peck him … poor guy, he has to return to zealously exalting his qualities to every living creature on the lake, but the tourists love him and are always ready with a treat when the see him.
morning sun
reflects on the lake
noisy old coot
© G.s.k. ‘16
NaHaiWriMo – 2016 Facebook Page
NaHaiWriMo Blog
NaHaiWriMo
Writing with: dt.haase “inviting silence” – Haiga – February 3, 2016
Chèvrefeuille writes:
“It is my pleasure to bring to you an all new episode of our special feature Tokubetsudesu. This week I will tell you a little bit more about our “runner-up” of our “winter-kukai”, dt.haase. dt.haase is the pseudonym of Dan Haase. Dan is an educator and consultant in Wheaton, Illinois. dt.haase is not a regular visitor of our Kai, but he sometimes shares his wonderful haiku and haiga here.”
This is the haiku (submitted as a haiga for the “winter-kukai”):
© dt.haase. “runner-up” of the “winter-kukai”
Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #68 dt.haase’s “inviting silence”
dt.haase’s blog is: Wanderer With Words
Wordless Wednesday – January 20, 2016
Winter Beach – Haiku – January 20, 2016
winter beach
ducks and dogs
masters of the beach and lake
distant smell of snow
winter’s whispers
gulls, ducks and the northern wind
alone on the beach
© G.s.k. ‘16
Bastet and Sekhmet's Library 