Carpe Diem Haiku Special - Richard Wright - December 17, 2014

I give permission

(troiku)

                                                                                              I give permission
                                                                                              the late winter sun shines

                                                                                              rain clouds draw near

I give permission                                                                     for this slow spring rain to soak
For this slow spring rain to soak                                              renewing life
The violet beds.                                                                      soon blossoms open

© Richard Wright

                                                                                              the violet beds

                                                                                              greet the early morning sun

                                                                                              wrinkled pajamas

                                                                                            

                                                                                                © G.s.k. '14

Linked to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Tan Renga - July 26, 2014

Today's tan renga begins with this hokku (haiku) given to us at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.


Chèvrefeuille tells us:

"A new Tan Renga Challenge is on ... to challenge your senses and insights in the association on themes. As I have done this month with the Tan Renga Challenges I have another classical haiku-poet for you to write Tan Renga. This week I have chosen a haiku by Sho-u. As far as I know he wrote only two haiku and there is nothing else to tell about him ... I couldn't find anything about Sho-u ... The goal of the Tan Renga Challenge is to write a second stanza of two lines (7-7 syllables or less) towards the given haiku by association on the first stanza in this case the haiku by Sho-u.

Mount Fuji

mannaka ni  fuji sobietari  kuni no haru

in the centre,
mount Fuji towers up:
spring in our country

© Sho-u

Here is Chevrefeuille’s offering:

in the centre
Mount Fuji towers up:
spring in our country  © Sho-u

a gathering of families
celebrates the cherry blossoms © Chèvrefeuille

Could living under mount Fuji be something I can relate to?  Here living in Trentino I can understand the feeling of the majesty of the mountains ... and I know that mount Fuji is particularly dear and sacred to the Japanese.

in the centre
Mount Fuji towers up:
spring in our country  © Sho-u

pink blossoms perfume the air
tempting the first butterflies
© G.s.k. '14  

Writing With Basho (4) - "has spring come" - July 19, 2014

Today we look at Basho's haiku once again on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.  Chèvrefeuille gives us a special treat, this is the master's first saved haiku:

 "As he wrote/composed this haiku he was a young guy of nearly 20 yrs old. And in my opinion this haiku looks like the haiku of a beginner, but as we will look closer ... this haiku is a masterpiece, one of his first masterpieces. This haiku isn't well known, but I think you will like it."

haru ya koshi    toshi ya yukiken    kotsugomori

has spring come
or has the year gone?
second-to-last-day

© Matsuo Basho (Tr. David Landis Barnhill)

( With this haiku came a preface, as was very common in those times. That preface was: ''Today we have the first day of spring in spite of the date''.

I think you can imagine why Basho wrote this haiku, so I leave it ... no explanation ... just visualize the scene.)

tender rose bud
will it blossom or wither?
a new season

© G.s.k. '14

I don't know what my first hailu ever was --- but this is my first published haiku on Bastet and Sekhmet's Library (now  private):

Rain, thunder and wind by night
Then came the morning
Cristal skies and light.

For more information about Basho, click the link above and visit today's post.