Little Creatures - Mud Snails - January 11, 2015

Tanishi (or mud-snail)

across country roads
tiny mud snails migrate
spring rains

April showers
broken shells along the road
mud snails

the farmer ponders

mayonnaise or garlic sauce
escargot 

© G.s.k. ‘15 

And it was not only I who thought of those poor snails becoming dinner: 

hiroinokosu tanishi ni tsuki no yûbe kana

mud-snails:

a few remain uncaught

under the evening moon

© Yosa Buson

And here is one by Matsuo Basho which he wrote at the age of 39:

sode yogosuran tanishi no ama no hima o nami 

with dirty sleeves

farmers-turned-fishermen pick up mud snails 

ever so busy

© Matsuo Basho (at the age of 39)

Written for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Carpe Diem Special - Richard Wright "in the falling snow" - December 10, 20'14

"The Snowball Fight" oil on Canvas - Jan Mari Henri Ten Kate

morning snowflakes

tumbling lazily from the sky -

children shout happily

falling snow

the children welcome the cold -

throwing snowballs

© G.s.k. '14

In the falling snow

A laughing boy holds out his palms

Until they are white.

© Richard Wright

§§§§

Our Host's haiku:

through the early night

the laugh of children playing -

virgin snow

© Chèvrefeuille

Writing with Robert Frost - Dust of Snow - December 10, 2014

sparrow at dawn
as it skips on the blacktop -
morning brightens

dull grey morn
a wayward snow-flake falls
upon her old tongue
the taste of Christmas -
her childhood joys

(c) G.s.k. '14

I hosted the Ghost Writers post today for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai after reading some of Robert Frost's beautiful short poems.  The idea was to write an all new haiku or tanka either distilling his poem (Dust of Snow) or to write about a similar personal experience.

Dust of Snow

Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

Credits: Winter Crow © Melissa Parks

Christmas Carols - December 8, 2014

Christmas Carols

singing carols
decorating the tree -
mother and son

caroling
feasting Gabriel's message -
one candle glows

singing practice
getting the words right -
his voice cracked

(c) G.s.k. '14

In Italy and other Catholic countries today is a holiday, the Annunciation of the Our Lady.

Linked to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

First lights - December 8, 2014

Christmas lights -
she makes pancakes
at dawn

December morning
first grey lights of dawn
- silence

 (c) G.s.k. '14

Linked to Carpe Diem Haku Kai

The Night -"Haiku-Noir" - December 3, 2014

Haiku

rain in the darkness
city lights shimmer like ghosts -
a lonely dog howls

trying to sleep
midnight traffic rumbles
belching exhaust fumes

American Sentences

walking the streets at midnight without a goal only fog as my wrap.

tick ticking at dawn, cold rain falling as the old lady goes walking.

unholy screams rend the fabric of night - two alley cats fighting.

(c) G.s.k. '14

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

This week's Ghost Writer is Jen from Blog it or Lose it ... and she'd got us reflecting upon the film genre "noir" ... and the darker side of nature:

Even if you’re not familiar with the term “film noir” you’ll know film noir when you see it.  Think of a 1940s black-and-white detective movie.  Here are some common film noir scenes:

·         Driving at night … in the rain;

·         Dark, shadowy, smoky rooms with venetian blind shadows;

·         People in trench coats standing alone in the fog … or on a pier … or in an alley … or a street corner … or in some sort of awkward, lonely, vulnerable position.

Here are an example of her great ability:

A haiku:

a dim street lamp

in a pale orange fog – 

almost bleeding 

 And a tanka:

the city is curled

around a tossed cigarette 

hissing in slush

and even the lamp light

recoils from its strike

(c)  Jen R. 

Linked to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai .. where you can read the full post ... 

Breathing with Ha - Haiku - November 6, 2014

heartbeat and breathing
morning sound of life within
saluting the sun

(c) G.s.k. '14

Linked to Heeding Haiku with HA

Lighthouse of Alexandria - October 2, 2014

Lighthouse of Alexandria

 merchant ships wander
Alexandria awaits
- lighthouse of Egypt

in fog or tempest

the Lighthouse beams
guiding sailors home

© G.s.k. '14

Spearflower (2) - October 5, 2014

Spearflowers revisited for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai...

                                                          
                                                              Yozakura (1640-1716)

spearflower berries
tempting the sparrows with their color -
graveyard in the mist

© Yozakura (1640-1716)

merry spearflowers
 beckon to carefree wildlife
silent are the tombs 

 © G.s.k. '14

Fire (2) - October 5, 2014

For Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... Fire.

 

round the yule long
flames light the new year
new life begins

the fire of life
purifies the passing year
at yule tide

(c) G.s.k. '14

Writing with Shiba Sonome (1) - As Night Deepens - October 5, 2014

From Carpe Diem Haiku Kai:

"This month we have another wonderful featured classical haiku-poetess. She was a disciple of Basho and writes her haiku in almost the same style as Basho did. Her name Shiba Sonome (1664-1726) and this is the first haiku which I love to share here from her:

mushi no ne ya yo fukete shizumu ishi no naka

the insects' chirp
as night deepens
sinks into the stones

© Shiba Sonome

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ù

the owl screeches
in the depth of night
echoed in the trees

among stones and trees
insects sing
as night grows old

 © G.s.k. '14

Sedoka

lonely the forest
in the deepening darkness
the calls of the night birds fly

first rays of moonlight
filter through the trees on stones
the cricket sings his night dirge

 © G.s.k. '14

Rough Seas - October 2, 2014

Today I'm writing the first post for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai's second anniversary .. to celebrate Chèvrefeuille will take us back in time to earlier prompts that were posted throughout these two years.  An here I would like to say, congratulations on a great successful blog and may it be with us for many many years to come!

We begin with Basho, this prompt was first published on October 19th 2012:

 

Credits: Woodblock print

the rough sea
flowing toward Sado Isle
the River of Heaven

© Basho (1644-1694)

Sado was an isle for banishment.

And we have a second haiku to inspire us as well ... Yozakura, who also writes about Sado which was where exiles were sent.

an outcast I am

day dreaming along the seashore;

Sado Isle beckons

© Yozakura

So I feel that the rough seas we are reading about here are not necessarily the physical rough seas, but turmoil in an emotional sense, and rough seas are in fact a metaphor.  In the first haiku, between the troubles of life and serenity ... in the second the personal desperation of living as an outcast.

 

 storm and wind
rough seas beat my home shores
- church bells toll

rough seas
river of clouds on the rocks
- a lonely path


© G.s.k. '14

Apples (2) - September 26, 2014

A second round for apples ... when I lived in Northern Africa, I discovered that the only apples that could be found were imported from the cooler European climes. An agronomist explained, that the fruit won't form unless the tree had undergone a winter freeze. 

American Verse

Mock apple pie in Chad - cinnamon, sugar and thin sliced eggplant.

American Haiku

bright red apples
gift of the winter
received in autumn

Haiku

bobbing for apples
a jack-o-lantern looks on
children laughing

Corn - September 26, 2014

Today Kigo is Corn for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai:

 

American Sentences

Bushels of corn waiting at the roadside stand - waiting to be roasted.

Roastin'  ears in melted butter - companions toasting autumn with beer.

American Haiku

sitting by the fire

corn roasting in foil

last barbecue

popcorn dancing

red hot iron skillet

melted butter and salt

Haiku

indian summer

last warm days before winter

the corn is ripe

Little creatures - Lizard - September 26, 2014

For Capre Diem Haiku Kai's "Little Creatures" - lizards. 

American Sentences

Standing on the ceiling in silence, the white gecko hunts mosquitos.

American Haiku

a warm rock
in a sea of wet grass
the lizard basks

the cat pounced
a lizard scuttled off
leaving his tail behind

Haiku

indian summer
the lizard salks the spider
in Bolognano

© G.s.k. '14

Little Creatures - Ants (2) - September 19, 2014

Here's my proper post for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai's prompt - ants!  It's rather long, I commented as I went along reading the post until I came to the part where I discovered I was to write a six lined renga ... so this post contains an auto renga reply to the proverbs .. and a few haiku ... then I wrote the renga.

The prompt looks upon the industrious aspects of the ants ... scurrying along getting ready for autumn or well just living :

[...] "Go to the ants, you sluggard, see their ways and become wise". (Proverbs 6: 6) [...]

or what to say about this verse (also from Proverbs):

[...] "(Ants) which having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest." (Proverbs: 30: 29) [...]

The second verse isn't quite right ...

Auto-renga

queen in the throne room
soldiers at the gateway
 workers gathering

all for the love of their queen
the mind and heart of their world

preparing the young
from the moment they're born
soldier or worker

queen in her throne room decides
her subject's life and function

©  G.s.k. '14

More like a biology lesson I suppose ...

Haiku

along the beech tree
the ants scramble creating
a new winter home

under the picnic table
forgotten sandwhich
covered in red ants

little ant labours
the crumb far bigger than she
she scurries homeward

©   G.s.k. '14

Let's read som classical haiku:

yudachi ni hashirikudaru ya take no ari

an evening shower:
the ants are running down
the bamboos

© Joso


ari nagasu hodo no oame to nari ni kiri

it became a rain
heavy enough
to wash the ants away

© Kuson


yakue naki ari no sumika ya satsukiame

nowhere to go;
the dwellings of ants
in the summer rain

© Gyodai


haari tobu ya fuji no susano no kore yori

winged ants fly
from a small house
at the foot of Mount Fuji

© Buson

 

From these I will choose a haiku to do the post ... for the post is to write a six line renga based on one of the haiku given above!

(For example) I will start my six (6) linked renga with the haiku by Joso:

an evening shower:
the ants are running down
the bamboos

(In renga this starting verse is called "hokku")

as the day ends in the west
the last sunbeams disappear

the cool summer night -
I have restless dreams next to you
the one I love

nightmares torturing me
attacked by mosquitos

the first sunbeams
cherishing my naked body
blankets have fallen

awakened by rustling bamboo
a new day rises for the ants

(In renga this closing verse is called ägeku")

© Chèvrefeuille

 Renga

 winged ants fly
from a small house
at the foot of Mount Fuji

© Buson

young adventurers fly
the woods awaiting them

a new queen
meets with her courtiers
creating a new nest

feverishly working
creating throne and nursery

rain gently falling
the ants are safe and dry
inside their spring home

a new city - born today
at the foot of Mount Fuji

© G.s.k. '14

River - September 18, 2014

River Sarca (Trentino) Italy

At Carpe DiemHaiku Kia I found this lovely post waiting for me today for my daily inspiration:

[...] "It is this what you mean, isn't it: that the river is everywhere at once, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the rapids, in the sea, in the mountains, everywhere at once, and that there is only the present time for it, not the shadow of the past, not the shadow of the future?" [...]

 [...] They listened. Softly sounded the river, singing in many voices. Siddhartha looked into the water, and images appeared to him in the moving water: his father appeared, lonely, mourning for his son; he himself appeared, lonely, he also being tied with the bondage of yearning to his distant son; his son appeared, lonely as well, the boy, greedily rushing along the burning course of his young wishes, each one heading for his goal, each one obsessed by the goal, each one suffering. The river sang with a voice of suffering, longingly it sang, longingly, it flowed towards its goal, lamenting its voice sang. [...]

 [...] "He had noticed that the river's spoke to him, he learned from it, it educated and taught him, the river seemed to be a god to him, for many years he did not know that every wind, every cloud, every bird, every beetle was just as divine and knows just as much and can teach just as much as the worshipped river. But when this holy man went into the forests (a metaphor for dying), he knew everything, knew more than you and me, without teachers, without books, only because he had believed in the river." [...]

'Siddhartha' by Hermann Hesse (Project Gutenberg version)

So today with Herman Hesse as my guide (thanks to our host Chèvrefeuille) I'm going to write about "river" .. not a particular river, though the photos are of the river near my home,  but that metaphor of lfe that is river .. the was - is - will be.

Karma Haiga

 river keeps flowing
from past - present - future
the wheel of life turns

© G.s.k. '14

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

River Sarca

walking along the river
murmurring whispers follow me
and life can seem so easy
or difficult
depending where I am ...
inside inner turbulance
or inside peaceful calm
I listen to the river
as it flows past me each day ...
contemplating its eternal voyage
from the high mountains
unto the sea,
I think of my existence
and all that I've been through ...
the river holds my secrets
it knows the pain and joys
its neverending voyage
whispers ... go onward
the sea awaits you too.

G.s.k. '14

Dawn at the Station (Haiga) - September 17, 2014

I decided to add another haiga to this week's Haiku Horizon ...

 

dawn at the station

first train pulling in at six

left without me

(c) G.s.k. '14

Inspired by the prompt at

Haiku Horizons - Train (Haiga) . September 17, 2014

For this weeks Haiku Horizon ... the key word is train ...

clouds in the mountains
the train pulled in at seven
first drops of rain falls

(c) G.s.k. '14

Inspired by the prompt at

Abandoned - Autumn Winds ... September 2, 2014

the blowing wind
orange leaves migrate in the storm
abandoning trees

orange and red leaves
filling the sky like snow flakes
abandoned summer

blowin' in the wind
birds abandon summer homes
back to Africa

Yesterday the sun was bright and beautiful ... but we had a very strong wind that stripped many of our trees.  The roof of my house at moments seemed as thought  it would take off  and visit the land of  Oz.  We had to take down our glass wind-chimes or they would have accompanied the leaves in the form of tiny colored splinters.  The winds of autumn have returned.

For Carpe Diem Haiku Kai