Secrets of the Sea #haiku #sailing

No one travels
Along this way but I,
This autumn evening.

– Matsuo Bashō

sepia sails

 brush strokes against yesterdays

alone on the sea

This Utabukuro goal  from Carpe Diem Haiku Kai  is to share a favorite haiku and create an all new one inspired on your favorite.

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Haiku Pond #poetry

A lesson from Kristjaan at  Carpe Diem Haiku Kai – writing haiku using Basho’s haiku as a template to work from.

For this challenge I have chosen a haiku, you all certainly know, written by Basho (1644-1694).

furu ike ya / kawazu tobi komu / mizu no oto

old pond
a frog jumps into
the sound of water

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

 

wise spectator

nature plays in autumn’s pond

catch the sound of leaves

Undercurrent #haiku

the rough sea
flowing toward Sado Isle
the River of Heaven

© Basho

taunted by the storm

strong undertow is man’s device

seeking to be free

Sharing this haiku with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Painting credit: Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky ( 29 July 1817 – 2 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter. He is considered one of the greatest marine artists in history. Born into an Armenian family in the Black Sea port of Feodosia and was mostly based in his native Crimea.

Fragile #haiku

eda moroshi   hi toshi yaburu    aki no kaze

fragile twigs
breaking off the scarlet papers
autumn winds

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

‘Toshi’ refers to a very fragile paper made in China. The idea of the poem was that even a fragile twig could tear the paper or the twigs were too fragile to hold on to the Autumn leaves.

I think of an old book

had been read for many ages

so aged, yellow and ripped

as I turned the pages

the words I embraced

for a final time they were read

final dust in my fingertips

 

A tree long ago

autumn winds flurry through text

words fragile as twigs

Fragile Twigs – a fine prompt from Kristjaan at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Since Cherry Blossoms… #haiku

Inspired by Basho:

since the cherry blossoms
I’ve waited three months to see
the twin-trunk pine

Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

memories spill over

cherry blossoms line the path

counting the days

*

cherry daydreams

soft pink decorates the sky

never sated

Photography: Moondust Designs 2015

 

This episode of Carpe Diem Haiku “Since Cherry Blossoms” is a reminder that they will return.

The Color of Music #haiku

shaded by blossoms
it is like song in a play
resting on a journey

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

rays burst in music 

blossoms lite on sleepy lashes

spring notes are pink

 
The prompt from Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is Shaded by Blossoms 

Blossoms from Heaven #haiku #photography

hana ni uzumorete yume yori sugu ni shinan kana

covered with cherry blossoms

if I could die right now
in this dream of mine

© Ochi Etsujin (Tr. Gabi Greve)

Etsujin was a traveling companion and disciple of Basho. At Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, we are celebrating (this month) the work of Basho and those he inspired.

 

 

Floating from heaven

children dance with spring

angels kiss my face

Memory’s Harvest #haiku

At the beginning of September I came back to my birthplace. Nothing of my mother remained. The grass in front of mother’s room had withered in the frost. Everything had changed. The hair of my brother and sisters was white and they had wrinkles between their eyebrows. We could only say, “We are fortunate to be still alive.” Nothing more. My elder brother opened an amulet case and said reverently to me, “Look at mother’s white hair. You have come back after such a long time. So this is like the jewel box of Urashima Taro. Your eyebrows have become white.” We wept for a while and then I composed this verse:

if taken in my hand
it would vanish in hot tears
autumn frost

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

The soil was where our story began ~

We were farmers and during the coldest winter,  harshest depression, or strictest rationing, we always had a spare morsel for someone with empty hands. Great grandfather passed down a love for the harvest; his son carried forth that responsibility. Some of us shared that love for the land while others tried to get the last dime from her. Dimes are spent rapidly and with little memory. The land has been faithful and gives back to those who dig deep…

still warm to the touch

memories flow with the tears

you have never failed

 

The Carpe Diem  prompt  today is from the wonderful haibun from Basho. “If taken in my hand” fills me with new and old memories as my hands return to the soil this season.

 

 

 

Water Falls #haiku

early summer rains
falling so much they covered up
the waterfall

~Basho

***

Time flows through glass

fluid stream of consciousness

fingers can’t catch it

The Carpe Diem Haiku Kai’s Time Glass Haiku prompt is Waterfall

Borrowing Sleep’s Step #haiku #tanrenga #photography

borrowing sleep

from the scarecrow’s sleeves
midnight frost

© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

 

sleepwalker’s nightly path

no one knows where you go

~mdw

 

 

I am reminded of my son’s odd sleepwalking habits. He seemed to have a path that he always followed (it always ended on the stairs). It got longer as he got older; The neighbors would often find him asleep on their stairs.

 

The Carpe Diem prompt is to write a Tan Renga using Basho’s fine haiku.