Morning Haiku and Waka - NaPoWriMo - April 5, 2016

bold minstrel sings

his bawdy melodies bright

for his lady love

morning serenade

sweet perfume of mimosa

and thoughts of you

what more can be said of spring

then a warming I love you?

© G.s.k. '16

Day Five - 

Fuyuko Tomita's "black-iron wind bell" - February 8, 2015

with glass and bamboo
this February wind chimes
a bright morning song

Garda’s wind-song

daily chiming through the valley

endless rhapsody

© G.s.k. ‘15

Today at Carpe Diem Haiku Special, we're trying to learn to write in the style of a Dutch Haiku Poet named: Fuyuko Tomita.

Kurogane no fuurin byakuya o nariyamazu

Black-iron wind bell

in the white summer night

tinkles on and on

© Fuyuko Tomita

Here are some of our host's haiku on the subject of wind chimes:

evening walk

the sound of a wind chime

deep silence

© Chèvrefeuille

And a cascading haiku from his  archives at his base weblog:

in the spring breeze

the wind chime sounds

with every step

with every step

the melody of spring rain

follows me

follows me

the melody of a Buddhist chant

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

resonates in my heart and soul

in the spring breeze

© Chèvrefeuille

Shinnen (New Year's Eve) - January 1, 2015

reflections
the snow flakes didn't fall
New Year's Eve

awaiting change
fireworks and feasting
Happy New Year!

New Year's morn
the world sleeps soundly
after feasting

we celebrate
a New Year's beginning
and a illusion
change comes with clocks
or pages of calendars

illusive time
today is like yesterday
the cat yawns

(c) G.s.k. '15

Below I'd like to copy some great haiku reflections by the Classical Masters:

kageboshi mo mame sokusai de gyokei kana

my shadow too

in good health...

"Happy New Year!"

toshidama cha doko wo megutte mata modoru

New Year's gift of tea--

where did you go

on your journey back to me?

(c) Issa

haru tatsu ya  shin-nen furuki  kome go-shoo

has spring already come?

I feel wealthy this New Year

with five sho of old rice

ganjitsu ya  omoeba sabishi  aki no kure

New Year's Day

I feel lonely just like

an autumn evening

(c) Basho

nanimokawara nai  mainichionaji kono atarashii toshini naru desho u

nothing changes

every day will be the same

this new year

(c) Yosakura

And from the host of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, Chèvrefeuille:

New Year's Eve

the sound of fireworks resonates 

against the snow

after the fireworks

the rustling of bare branches

nothing has changed

(C) Chèvrefeuille

Happy New Year 2015

Fireworks (Hanabi) - December 29, 2014

Christmas season
fire rains from the sky
in Arco

winter feasting
 illuminating the castle
fireworks

ushering in the year
through out the penisula
fireworks

© G.s.k. ‘14

Fireworks may not be a modern kigo as we discovered from Carpe Diem Haiku Kai .. but they are an integral part of the seasonal celebrations in December throughout Italy.  The brief video was prepared by a visitor who came to Arco's Christmas Fair on the evening of December 7th ... the 8th is a holiday in Italy and the beginning of the Christmas Season (the Immaculate Conception).  Arco shoots off about 45 minutes of fireworks from its castle.  On the 31st New Year's Eve fireworks are shot off everywhere (publicly and privately) to usher in the New Year

Rainbow - Time Glass Challenge - November 25, 2014

an autumn storm
rainbow bridges the mountains
- in early evening

G.s.k. '14

Linked to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai 

Dawn - November 3, 2014

Lago di Garda - Lake Garda - Italy

fishermen
in the dawning new day
bathed in pink

in the valley

the sun dawns slowly

- silence

on the horizon
first rays of the morning sun -
dawns on  lake Garda

(C) G.s.k. '14

Linked to Haiku Horizon - Dawn with a special thanks to Jen from Blog it or Lose it!

Wind in Spring (kites) - Haiku - October 26, 2014

Kite and Wind surfing

riding the winds
surfers and kite riders
l'ora* in Garda

rainbow colored sky
kites flying over the park
children laughing

(c) G.s.k. '14

Here: "Tanka - Kite" is the post I wrote for CDHK's Modern Spring, where the Jane Richhold's kigo, kite was introduced for the first time. 

L'ora - is a stiff daily wind that comes from the south up over Lake Garda and blows through the Valleys all the way to Trento.  It usually begins blowing around noon. Ora means hour, but also now in Italian.

 

Linked to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai using the kigo .. kite.

Carpe Diem Special - St. Francis - September 29, 2014

Here's our last quote by St. Francis of Assisi at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Special:

[...] “A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” [...]

shadows broken
by a single sunbeam
the white swan swims

Cutting Wood - September 20, 2014

For this post inspired by Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... I'm looking at "cutting wood".

Here in my Alpine region, though of course most of the houses are equipped with modern heating and cooking stoves, many homes also have a fireplace and/or wood burning stoves, which are put into regular use, beginning as soon as the first cold snaps, rather than turning on the central heating.

The sound of early autumn is often a concert of circular saws rather than chain saws ... since the wood that is delivered from the forestry service is usually from fallen frees or potting etc, that has been done in the woods nearby. (This is done here in Trentino to prevent forest fires among other reasons.)

Once the larger logs are cut down to size ... the sound of small axes can later be heard, cutting those larger chunks down even further into shape for the wood burning stoves or fireplaces. The smell of late autumn is burnt wood and lasts until last spring.

chain saws buzzing
in the early autumn woods
cleaning undergrowth

sharp morning whine
sawing down the firewood
early autumn chores

§

splintering logs
preparing Mom's stove wood

in early morning -
late autumn afternoon
corn polenta thickens

snowy evening
chopping wood for the fireplace
chestnuts for supper

© G.s.k. '14

Dusk - September 8, 2014

For Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ...

 darkness
the wideness of things
fills the distance

tangled branches
coming darkness
woven in

a wave breaks white
a gull folds its wing
as the sea darkens

© Jane Reichhold

until dusk
they hide in secret places -
Nightingales sing

© Chèvrefeuille

sunkissed Mount Baldo

the darkness in the valley

- and the crickets sigh

early autumn dusk
bats joyfully fly and screech
gathering mosquitoes

following sunset
cicada empty branches
in the gloaming

lonely night song
in Arco's gloaming valley
nightingale's concert

 ©  G.s.k. '14

Branch of Loquats - September 7, 2014

heavy laden branch
children fill their baskets
with sweet loquats

Clear - September 7, 2014

clear crystal water
autumn morning at the lake
... noisy coots fishing

Cemetery - September 7, 2014

 For Carpe Diem Haiku Kai ... let's contemplate cemeteries:

 

necropolis
city of the beloved
in Bolognano

peacefully sleep
in your solemn beds
candles and flowers

memory lane
paved with white gravel
the cemetery

G.s.k. '14

In Italy you won't usually find cemeteries in the classical American sense of the word.  Land is precious and the dead like the living have cities to dwell in not gardens and parks ... the exceptions are the Allied War Cemeteries that can be found in Southern and Central Italy (like Anzio, Monte Cassino or just outside Florence).

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

sleeping peacefully
the Best Western Motel
by the cemetery

grave marker
as a cradle headboard
rest in peace

abandoned cemetery
iron keys cross the ground
no one going in

© Jane Reichhold

Writing with Jim Kacian - August 5, 2014

For this week's Carpe Diem Haiku Special we meet a great American haiku poet, Jim Kacian ... follow the link to find out who he is on Chèvrefueille's post!

Here's one of his finest haiku to meditate and write to:

chopping wood-
someone does the same
a moment later

© Jim Kacian

and now Chèvrefueille's:

 deep silence

in the forest I only hear

a Woodpecker

© Chèvrefeuille

 

Two fine haiku ... they speak to me of the flow of time and the magic of a moment!

 

 

walking in the rain
silence and reflections
the sparrow chirps

this road goes upwards
high into the mountain pass
one step after another

© G.s.k. '14

Writing with Chiyo-Ni (5) - "waterweed" - July 26, 2014

Today's is the last July post dedicated to the famous woman haiku poet Chiyo-Ni at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.  Let's have a look at hr poem:

waterweed
floating away, despite
the butterfly’s weight on it

© Chiyo-Ni

This haiku brought to my mind the image of the flow of life, which continues to flow despite the ups and downs of emotional "interference" ... whether they be joyous, sad, frightening or enraged ... emotions flair, but pass and like floating weeds life continues.

the river flows
under the bridge endlessly
though mosquitoes bite

the branch floats by
playing ducks squawk and dive
on river Sarca

(C) G.s.k. '14

Writing with Issa (4) "Oh cooling melons!" - July 2, 2014

Today we will be inspired again by Issa, one of my favorite haiku poets.  Knowing as we do, about the tragic aspects of his life, I find that Issa's wonderful light-hearted haiku are especially inspirational. On Chèvrefeuille of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai quotes this lovely poem, with an explanation:

hito kitara kawazu to nare yo hiyashi uri

if anyone comes,
turn into frogs,
o cooling melons!

© Kobayashi Issa

Issa has just put some melons into a tub of water outside the house, to cool them. As they float on the surface of the water, their green bellies remind him of frogs, just at the moment that he has a feeling of hesitation, of uneasiness, at leaving them unguarded. This momentary see-sawing of the mind makes the notion of melons turning into frogs more than merely fanciful. The humour also, joins where it seems to separate.

And another Issa haiku follows:

 Another haiku on melons by Issa is the following:

nusubito no miru to mo shirade hiyashi uri

oblivious
of the gaze of the thief. -
melons in cool

© Kobayashi Issa

Here is our Chèvrefeuile's haiku:

cooling down
together with the melons
I take a bath

© Chèvrefeuille

In Italy, summer time means prosciutto ham sliced paper thin and honey-dew melon:

Senryu

 

fresh honey-dew melons
warmed in prosciutto blankets
no goose bumps tonight

© G.s.k. '14

Summer time is also the time of Arco's watermelon fests, the city council provides music and free watermelon for all:

Haiku

Arco's summer fests
merry dancing in the streets
cooled watermelon

© G.s.k. '14