Sparkling Stars - Tea - October 18, 2014

 an empty cup
water bubbling merrily
a blackbird singing

©  G.s.k. '14

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I loved the prompt by our host at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, Chèvrefeuille.  I can feel completely in tune with the aptmosphere he relates in his post ... beginning with the time of day he's writing, which is the time of day I usually wake up and write.

I'm going to imagine that I'm in a classical tea house, which has been prepared for the Cha noYu - or The Way of  Tea.  I  imagine that the host has spent the day in meditation, preparing the room with just the right amount of charcoal in the brazier to boil the water, the seasonal flower arraingement, and each utensil has been laid out just so ...

I'm reminded of a story that I hear a long time ago about Sen no Rikyū who is considered the the historical figure who had the most influence on the chanoyu, in particular to the Wabi-cha (which is what I'm imagining above) which weighs heavily on estetics.  He was almost fanatical about creating the perfect aptmosphere of simplicity - the size of the room, the position of the every single object under his guidance became an art of precision.  Even to the placing of a drop of water on a petal.

One day, after Rikyū ahd passed a morning preparing the Wabi-cha, a young disciple came into the cerimonial room and distractedly knocked over the flower arraigement that the Master had  worked on all morning.  The student was mortified and was expecting to be disciplined.  Instead of shouting at the young man, Rikyū embraced him thanking him: this is the perfection that I had been seeking all morning!

But he was also famous for this sentence:

The Way of Tea is naught but this:

first you boil water,

then you make the tea and drink it.

Cats Tea Ceremony Tokyo

Here are some delightful haiku by Yozakura whom we have recently met here on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai:

  deep silence
only the sound of boiling water
an empty cup

© Yozakura

 in this tea house
the smell of cherry blossoms
scooping hot water

© Yozakura

 all alone
at the foot of Mt. Fuji -
tea and nothing else

© Yozakura

Yozakura (1640-1716)

Spearflowers - Tanka - October 4, 2014

Spearflowers (manryoo):

 The Ardisia Crispa is a shrub that will grow between 2 feet high and 2 feet in thickness. It is semi hardy plant quite suited to temperate climates. It is an evergreen plant and keeps its leaves during Winter. It will grow well in any location including shaded areas of the garden. Situated against a north wall would be a good place for it to . The plant can produce a beautiful scent in the evenings that evokes a certain exotic ambiance. The scent of the plant is seems most present on humid evenings after a warm day.

 Here is a lovely haiku by Yozakura

tandokude wasurete watashino nagusameni dake ippan tekina yamano hana

alone, forgotten, 
only a common mountain flower 
to comfort me

© Yozakura

 

laying on her bed
the room smells of spearflowers
 delicate his kiss
the snow white silken sheets
are soon stained in joyous red

(c) G.s.k. '14

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I've never heard of these flowers before, so I let the description given by Chèvrefeuille December 18, 2012 post inspire me ... specifically: "The plant can produce a beautiful scent in the evenings that evokes a certain exotic ambiance."  The photograph I used is also a piece of history, from the same period!  A blog entitled : Rheumatologe who wrote a triplet of haiku for Spearflowers.