Monday, December 30, 2013

Carpe Diem #362, A Celtic Tale


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Here it is than ... our last episode of this Carpe Diem Month of 2013 and the last video by Adrian von Ziegler. I have enjoyed making this month for you and I am grateful for your paricipation this month. I am aware that this month wasn't easy, but I think it was a wonderful month with great music.
Next year 2014 we will have for sure two months with inspirational music and I hope you all will like that music too. In our first musical month, June, I will introduce you all to the magnificent music of BrunuhVille, a young Portugese musician and in our second month of inspirational music (november or december 2014) I hope to share music written by Jakob or Oliver Shanti. I am busy with getting permission to use their music so I can't say if I will use it ... well ... I hope to surprise you as I know more ...



This composition you know already I think, because I used it in our promptlist introduction. It's a nice piece of music to conclude this wonderful Carpe Diem month of Inspirational Music with.

finally the end
of a Celtic tale of music -
howling of wolves

howling of wolves
as we say goodbye to the old year -
a new day rises

I wish you all a great New Year's Eve and a wonderful 2014 ....


This episode will stay on until January 1st 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our first episode of January, Aleph, later on today. !! Celtic Tale is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) !!  Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Carpe Diem #361, Dance with the trees


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As the end of 2013 is closing into us my thoughts went already to next Spring. Next Spring I will become a granddad for the 7th time, our youngest daughter (21 yrs) will give birth to her first born ... so 2014 will be a great year for my wife and I. I am looking forward to that new born child, because it's a wonder that this child will be born. Our daughter and her boyfriend had a lot of problems with getting pregnant ... so it's really a joy that they will become mom and dad.
Spring is the season of new life and the song I love to share with you all here is about ''trees'', I can see the young green leaves sprouting at the bare branches and than the wind blows and let them dance. Awesome.





This video is made by Rubia Lima ... it's a one-picture-video but a beauty I think. ''Dance with the trees" could be easily a tune for Spring as for Autumn ... but it's a gorgeous composition.

rustling leaves
the spring breeze caresses the trees -
cherry buds sprout

cherry buds sprout
as the spring breeze is tickling
their fragility

their fragility
cherry blossoms dance in the wind
Ah! that sadness

Ah! that sadness
as the autumn storm is dancing
with the trees

Not a strong series, but I liked composing it and I hope it will inspire you all to write new haiku. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at our Haiku kai. By the way I have published our new prompt-list for January 2014 HERE.
This episode will stay on until December 31th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our last episode of 2013, A Celtic Tale, later on around 7.00 PM (CET). "Dance with the trees" is open for your submissions tonight around 7.00 PM (CET).

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Carpe Diem #360, Circle of Life


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to make another new episode of Carpe Diem with the wonderful music of Adrian von Ziegler. His music is stunning and I think I have promoted him in a nice way. Our following month of Inspirational Music will be in June 2014 and I have already found a wonderful young musician to provide us with his music. He also has granted me permission already to use his music. That month will be wonderful too I think, but for now ... back to this episode. Today Ihave chosen the composition ´circle of life´. At first I thought at the same song as the one in ´The Lion King´, but that´s a very different kind of music. Here is as Adrian von Ziegler sees the ´circle of life´. Enjoy the music and let it inspire you to write haiku.




This video is provided by EpicMusicVn and it´s really a joy to watch it don´t you think so too?

It inspired me to write the following haiku:

swaying on the wind
on the shoulder of the spring wind
nature's alive

nature's alive
spring has come without a sound -
cherry blossoms bloom




cherry blossoms bloom
finally winter has gone
light is back again

What a nice trio I think. Is it a picture of the circle of life? I think so ...

This episode will stay on until December 30th 11.59 AM (CET) and will be open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET). Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. Our new episode, Dance with the trees, will be published later on today.


Friday, December 27, 2013

Carpe Diem Special #69, Hando´s 5th `caught by the call`


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

In this time of year several things are for the last time, and that's also with our Carpe Diem Special of today. Today we have our fifth Special haiku by Hando and it's the last of this month and of this year. I haven't decided which haiku-poet will deliver our Specials next month, but one thing is for sure, it will be a Russian haiku-poet, because of our Trans Siberian Railway month. So ... you have to wait a little, but I will share haiku that are wonderful and Russian.

Here is our last Special haiku by Hando for your inspiration. Write a new haiku in the same tone, sense and spirit as the one by Hando. Good Luck

caught by the call
of the flowers and mountain, I forget
how steep the path is


(c) Hando

Credits± Mountain flowers

And here is my attempt to write a whole new haiku inspired on the one by Hando and (I hope) in the same tone and sense and spirit.

the little child
reaches for the water lillies
without seeing the frog


(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode of Carpe Diem Special will stay open for your submissions until December 29th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode later on today around 7.00 PM (CET). That will be Circle of Life. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku in the spirit of Hando with our haiku/family. This Special episode is OPEN for your SUBMISSIONS tonight at 7.00 PM (CET)



Carpe Diems Tan Renga Challenge #24, Managua Gunn's ''puddles on the forest path''


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

This is it ... our last Tan Renga Challenge of 2013, next week a whole New Year has already started and than Angi Inspired will ''deliver'' our first Tan Renga Challenge of 2014 ... I hope to continue this Challenge every week's Friday and I hope that I can (and may) use haiku written by you my dear friends. Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is a wonderfull haiku-family and we make this Haiki Kai with eachother. 

This week's Tan Renga Challenge is started by Managua Gunn (or Yer Pirate) and he wrote this in response on the fourth Special haiku by Hando, our featured haiku-poet for this month. You can find his post HERE


puddles on the forest path
frozen with leaves and pine cones
no place for stars to play

(c) Managua Gunn

It's the goal to write a second stanza to this one and complete in that way the Tan Renga. Here is my attempt to complete this Tan Renga started by Managua.

puddles on the forest path
frozen with leaves and pine cones

no place for stars to play                                     (Managua Gunn)

reflections of thousand colors
New Year's Eve
                                                 (Chèvrefeuille)


I couldn''t do it in a different way ... this second stanza was really the first which came in my mind. It's the time of year I think (smiles).


Credits: Fireworks

This episode of our Tan Renga Challenge will stay on until January 3rd 11.59 AM (CET) and is NOW OPEN for your submissions. Have fun, be inspired and share your completed Tan Renga with us all here at our Haiku Kai.


Carpe Diem's ''Freestyle'' #5


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,


To give you all the space to share your haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka and all other Japanese kinds of poetry I have launched a little while ago the Carpe Diem's Freestyle feature. As from now on I will try to publish a Freestyle episode once a month.

Freestyle is what it is ... just share your poetry without a given prompt, maybe you have read a wonderful haiku, or did you write an awesome haiku but it didn't suit to the prompts given. Then this is the place to share that poetry with Carpe Diem.
Feel free to share your poetry and enjoy the publishing here on the world wide web.


Credits: Firework

It's almost New Year so I have chosen a few New Year haiku to share here with you all. Let me first share one written by Issa.

kageboshi mo mame sokusai de gyokei kana

my shadow too
in good health...
"Happy New Year!"

(c) Issa

Or this one composed by Buson:

saitan wo shitarigao naru haikaishi

it's the First Morning,
and he certainly knows it -
the poetry master

(c) Buson


Credits: Fireworks

What do you think of this nice New Year's haiku by Basho?

on New Year's Day
each thought a loneliness
as winter dusk descends

(c) Basho

All wonderful haiku written about New Year's Day by the classics. Here is one written by a modern haiku-poetess Jane Reichhold, I think this is one of her best haiku for New Year's Day.

night snows
the words on New Year's Day
clean and white


And a totally new haiku written by myself to close this episode of our Freestyle-feature:

still hearing the wind
of yesterday morning
on New Year's Day

(c) Chèvrefeuille, your host

Credits: fireworks (Dubai)

I wish you all a wonderful and inspirational New Year and I hope to see you all again here at Carpe Diem for a whole new year of haiku-writing. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.
This episode will stay on until January 20th 11.59 AM (CET) and is NOW OPEN for your submissions.


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Carpe Diem #359, Wild Flower


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas ... I had a beautiful family-Christmas. All my children and grandchildren were present and enjoyed a Christmas-brunch. It was really a nice day.

Our Family-Christmas-brunch
Well ... I am a very rich man ... as you can see ... we are with 13th people and still growing. Our youngest daughter will be giving birth to her first child next March ... so we have already one big day to come ... the day when our 7th grandchild will be born.

OK ... back to our episode of today. Today I have a nice composition for your inspiration and I am looking forward to all of your wonderful haiku, senryu, tanka or kyoka. Lean back, relax and listen to the music of Adrian von Ziegler.


wild flowers
plucked by my granddaughter
on grandma's grave

on grandma's grave
a whitered bouquet of wild flowers
once plucked by her

once plucked by her
now I stand here at her grave -
grandpa's pearl died

A little bit sad trio of haiku I think, but it's how I feel as I listened to this music. By the way these haiku aren't actually about my own experience, but are written for a close friend of mine.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will be staying open until December 28th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode, our last Special haiku by Hando (our featured haiku-poet), later on today. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.


Monday, December 23, 2013

Carpe Diem Impromptu #1


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I have created this new feature to tell you some important things. I have published three new episodes of Carpe Diem, because I haven't enough time the coming days of Christmas to publish.
Therefor I have published episodes 356, 357 and 358 in one roll. Every episode starts on another day, but that's what we all know don't we?

So have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us. For now: Have a Merry Christmas. See you again on late December 26th.

Warm greetings,

Kristjaan (a.k.a. Chèvrefeuille), your host at Carpe Diem.



Carpe Diem #358, Cliffs of Moher


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's Christmas and I hope that you all have had a wonderful time. I had a great day we had a brunch with all our children and grandchildren ... it was really awesome and it felt great. We listened to music, had presents and sung Christmas carols ... really it was a great day.

Our music video for today is another nice piece of Celtic music and it's called ''Cliffs of Moher''.




This episode will be staying on until December 27th 11.59 AM (CET) and is open for your submissions on December 25th 7.00 PM (CET). I will post later our next episode, Wild Flower, another nice composition by our featured musician Adrian von Ziegler.


Carpe Diem #357, A Red Sun Sets


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I love to wish you all a Merry Christmas ... and I hope that your Christmas is great. As we are closing in to the end of the year I am looking back and as I look back I see a warm haiku-family which has turned out to be an important part of my life. And I thank you all for that ... and I hope to see you in the upcoming year here again on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Our musicvideo for today is titled ''A Red Sun Sets'' ...



Another piece of relaxing world music ... this time with lyrics sung ... it's probably the only piece of music in which sung lyrics are dominating. It does feels like an Tibetan Monastery this music ... very wonderful.

high in the mountains
resonating with the Tibetan spirit
angels are singing

(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode will be staying on until December 26th 11.59 AM (CET) and will be open for your submissions on December 24th 7.00 PM (CET). I will post our next episode, Cliffs of Moher, later on today.


Carpe Diem #356, Silent Sentinel


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Today (12/23) I will publish three episodes of our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, because of the holidays. Here in The Netherlands we have two days of Christmas (12/25 & 12/26) and those days I will not be online ... these days are days I share with my loved ones, so today I will try to prepare the episodes for 12/25 & 12/26. This episode however is the one I will publish for Christmas Eve (12/24). By the way I have great news. I have permission to use the music composed by another young musician from Portugal. I will tell you more later as the new year has started.

Our musical prompt for today is Silent Sentinel and this title triggered me, because I can recall the ''sentinels'' which are in ''The Matrix'', but those aren't the theme ofcourse (smiles) it' was just an idea that slipped into my mind as was preparing this episode. Here is the music-video:



Adrian calls this ''relaxing world music'' and in this song you can hear the mid-east, the desert, the high mountains and the images of caravans on their way through the desert searching for an oasis. A wonderful piece of inspirational music I think.

silent oasis
rests in the heat of the day
awaiting visitors

under a starry sky
the sound of rustling palmtrees
and belly dancers

(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode will stay on until December 25th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode, A Red Sun Sets, later on today. !! Silent Sentinel is open for your submissions December 23th 7.00 PM (CET) !!


Sunday, December 22, 2013

Carpe Diem #355, Celestial


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Almost at the end of this year and this wonderful month full of music by Adrian von Ziegler. Until today I have enjoyed the preparing of this episodes and I still do. It's just a shame that the response isn't great the last few days ... maybe everyone is to busy with the preparations for the holidays or the music isn't enough anymore or to much ... well it's up to you all and there are no obligations here at Carpe Diem. Just feel free to participate and share your haiku inspired on the music by Adrian von Ziegler.
Today I love to share the following music-video 'celestial':




A great musical piece ... very emotional and strong. I think this one will inspire you all to write wonderful haiku. I however wasn't inspired enough to write a haiku ... so maybe later I will post my haiku inspired on this music.

Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with our haiku-family. This episode will stay on until December 24th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode later on today around 7.00 PM (CET). That will be Silent Sentinel.
!! Celestial is open for your submissions later on today around 7.00 PM (CET) !!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Carpe Diem Special #68. Hando's 4th, "puddles on the pavement"


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As we are on our way to Christmas and the end of 2013 I am in the nightshift, falling almost asleep because of the relaxed shift, and try to prepare our 4th Carpe Diem Special by Hando of this month. I have found another nice haiku composed by Hando and believe me it's not easy to find haiku written by him, because he has not a big oeuvre of haiku.


the puddles on the pavement
carry the moon, the stars
and cherry blossoms
(c) Hando




My attempt to write a haiku in the same sense, tone and spirit as the one by Hando is the following:


with my hands
I scoop water from the well
and carry the moon
(c) Chèvrefeuille

Well ... now it's up to you my dear friends. This episode will stay on until December 23th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode, Celestial, later on today.
!! This 4th Special by Hando is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) !!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Carpe Diem #354, Alvae


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am in the nightshift so I haven't time enough to write a big post. So instead of a big post, just a small one with the music-video for today. Enjoy the music, lean back and relax. Let the music inspire you to write haiku.




Adrian has made this composition inspired on a fantasy-novel he is writing. The Alvae are a forest tribe in that novel ... so this piece of music is an all over composition by Adrian. It's a wonderful piece of music and I can almost visualize the Alvae ...

forest tribe
keepers of the rainforests all over the world -
Mother Earth smiles

(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode will stay on until December 22th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode, the fourth Special by Hando (our featured haiku-poet), later on today around 7.00 PM (CET).
!! Alvae is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) !!


Carpe Diem's Tan Renga Challenge #23, " into the sea "



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another week has gone by and it's time again for a new episode of our Tan Renga Challenge. For this week's Challenge I have chosen a haiku written by Jane Reichhold, our featured haiku-poetess of July this year. She is a great wonderful haiku-poetess and she is one of the most wellknown haiku-poetesses of our time.
I have chosen a nice haiku written by her:

melting into the sea
the full moon
leaves a candle bright


(c) Jane Reichhold




It's up to you to make this Tan Renga complete with a second stanza of 7-7 syllables. It looks the same as a Tanka there is one difference, Tanka is written by one poet and Tan Renga by two poets.

Here is my continuation of this Tan Renga started by Jane Reichhold.

melting into the sea
the full moon
leaves a candle bright                                  (Jane Reichhold)

soft winter breeze cherishes
the last colorful leaves                                 (Chèvrefeuille)

Now it's your turn. This episode will stay on until December 27th 11.59 AM (CET). Have fun, be inspired and share your completed Tan Renga with us. !! This episode is now open for your submissions !!


Thursday, December 19, 2013

Carpe Diem #353, Awake in a Dream


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We are on our way to Christmas and are following the path of Advent ... here in The Netherlands it's raining and the temperatures are to high for this time of year, but that's very common here the climate is changing and our Dutch winters become softer and our summers warmer. In this time of year we look back and try to look forward ... I have had a wonderful year, of course there were ups and downs, but over all I had a great year. Carpe Diem has become a nice haiku-family and it's a joy to bring you all these every day prompts for your inspiration. Sometimes the prompts are just words, or images, or haiku, but this month it's all musical prompts by Adrian von Ziegler, a young promising Swiss musician.
I had a dream ... to create a community for haiku-poets and with Carpe Diem I succeeded in that and sometimes it feels still like a dream ... as Iread all your comments and lovely reactions on my post ... this haiku-family feels like a warm embrace and I cherish that every day again. Thank you all for your love and kindness. Thank you all for your daily effort to write and share haiku with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

Today I love to share a nice little piece of music. Adrian von Ziegler says about this piece of music [..] I wanted to write a piece of music that describes the feeling of being completely immersed in a dream world, a dream that reaches out into reality like a veil of smoke until it covers all. A piece of music that attempts to lull reality itself into a deep slumber. [..]

And if you listen to this music it will easily bring you to sleep, it's fragile and therefore a very strong lullaby. Have fun listening to this music, this lullaby and be inspired to write a haiku, senryu, tank or kyoka about it.





A wonderful music-video created on the music of Adrian by Rubia Lima ... I hope this music will inspire you to write haiku.

It inspired me to write the following haiku:

deep within a dream
awakens a new world of love -
snowdrops bloom


Now it's up to you my dear friends. This episode will be open for your submissions until December 21th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode, Alvae, later on today. !! Awake in a Dream is open for your submissions at 7.00 PM (CET) !!


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Carpe Diem #352, Spirits of the Wild


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What an awesome month of Carpe Diem we have this month ... I am overwhelmed by all of your wonderful and lovely comments on my posts and I am every time again surprised by your haiku inspired on the music of Adrian von Ziegler. I am really ... amazed by that ... it was a fragile choice to take the music of Adrian for our prompts of inspirational music, because it's a not so wellknown musician and I gambled that his music would be for your pleasure and that you would like it as much as I do ...
Well ... you do like his music and so it's my joy to share another nice musical-piece of Adrian here. This time I have chosen ''Spirits of the Wild'' and here it is:




WOW! What a gorgeous music and so in tune with haiku I think. I hope it will inspire you to write nice haiku. It inspired me to write this one:

sounds of nature
cherish my lonely heart without regrets
in deep silence

Not a strong one I think, but that is not up to me to decide. It was a joy to compose it.

This episode of Carpe Diem's inspirational music month will stay on until December 20th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode, Awake in a Dream, later on today. !! Spirits of the Wild is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) !!


Carpe Diem's ''Bookshelf'', a new feature ...


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's my pleasure to introduce a new feature on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. It's all about writing a haiku-suite but why did I give this new feature the title ''Bookshelf''? Well ... let me try to explain that. A haiku-suite is in a way a short story and short stories are bundled up in anthologies, and anthologies are books. So that's why I have called this new feature ''Carpe Diem 's Bookshelf''. This feature will become a nice exhibition of short stories caught in the form of a haiku-suite and of course it will bring a lot of joy ... and joy (to me) is also a bookshelf full of books.

Let me introduce this new feature and I hope it will give a lot of pleasure and inspirational haiku-suites. As you maybe remember I wrote a haiku-suite in response on Adrian von Ziegler's short-musical-story which started with ''Prophecy''. You all responded with nice compliments and I thought maybe this haiku-suite is something for a new feature ... well ... this is that new feature and this is the first episode of Carpe Diem's Bookshelf''.

Bookshelf

What is the goal of this new feature? It is the goal to write a haiku-suite based on a few words, images or another poem. A haiku-suite is a series of haiku with a so called 'red-thread' theme which bounds the seperate haiku together. There's no limit to the number of haiku, you can follow your heart, and write for example a haiku-suite with four, ten or more haiku.
I once wrote a haiku-suite of more than 15 haiku (and tanka) about one of the greatest Dutch painters Van Gogh, of course that haiku-suite was written in Dutch. Maybe I will translate that haiku-suite into English to share it here with you. I will see ...

Let's go and do some haiku-suite composing with the following words, image(s) or poem(s). I will give you three choices and you may choose what you want to use. Feel free, no obligations. Just have fun and enjoy this new feature.

Here are the three words:
  1. Christmas
  2. Angels
  3. Sheperds

Here is/are the image(s):

Beach

Krabi-Beach

Couldn't find the owner of this picture


And here is the poem, a haiku by Boncho:

the brushwood,
though cut for fuel,
is beginning to bud


Make your choice and write your haiku-suite and place it in our Carpe Diem Bookshelf. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku-suite with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.
This episode of ''Carpe Diem's Bookshelf'' will stay on until January 18th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will (try) to post a new episode of CD's Bookshelf that same day.

PS.: The credits for the logo of this feature are in courtesy of: plusmood.com


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Carpe Diem #351, Sacred Earth



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another new day in our Carpe Diem Haiku Kai paradise of wonderfully composed inspirational music by Adrian von Ziegler. Today I have a music-video which, in my opinion, is almost made for haiku-poets ... it's titled "sacred earth" and as a haiku-poet we are always busy with Mother Nature or Mother Earth ... Haiku-poets are worshippers of nature and we honor Mother Earth as a sacred place to be and to live in.

Here is the music-video:



A wonderful piece of music in which you can hear, feel and see Mother Earth blossom ... a great feeling ...

Here is my attempt to write a haiku inspired on this piece of music:

Mother Earth blossoms
while I dream of unknown paths -
the scent of roses


(c) Chèvrefeuille

This episode will stay on until December 19th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode, Spirits of the Wild, later on today around 7.00 PM (CET). !! Sacred Earth is NOW OPEN for your submissions !!
Share your haiku inspired on the music by Adrian von Ziegler with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

I am still behind with commenting ... I hope to catch up ... I will for sure visit you all, but maybe I will not write comments. It's a case of lack of time ... but I will try ... Don''t be sad if I haven''t commented on your posts.


Monday, December 16, 2013

Carpe Diem #350, "Part of the Pack"



Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What a joy to prepare another new episode of Carpe Diem. Today I love to share THE composition which Adrian von Ziegler especially wrote for his fans. He calls his fans "The Pack" and so this composition became the anthem of his fans. It's a wonderful piece of music and I think you all will like it too.




Well ... did you like it? It's a wonderful anthem and I love listening to it.
For this episode I wasn't inspired enough to write a haiku right now, maybe it will come later today.

This episode will stay on until December 18th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode later on today around 7.00 PM (CET) ... that will be Sacred Earth and it's more in our haiku-stream I think. !! This episode 'part of the pack' is open for your submissions at 7.00 PM (CET) !!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Carpe Diem Special #67, Hando's 3rd ''sit in silence''


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I have sought the Internet and my ''haiku-library'' for a nice haiku written by our featured haiku-poet for this month, Hando, and I think I have found another nice haiku to share with you in this Carpe Diem Special. I hope it will inspire you all to write new haiku in the same sense, tone and spirit as the one by Hando.

on the Snowmass slope
even the magpies on the fence
sit in silence
 

(c) Hando



The haiku above Hando wrote at a Cistercian Monastery and maybe you know that the habits of Cistercian monks were white with black ... Hando caught that image in an extra-ordinary way I think. With that same image in mind I wrote the following haiku in response on Hando's.


black on white
crows scatter fresh fallen snow -
the Morningstar rises


(c) Chèvrefeuille

And now ... it's up to you my dear friends to compose an all new haiku inspired onthe one by Hando. This episode will stay on until ecember 17th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode, Part of the Pack, later on today around 7.00 PM (CET). !! Hando's 3rd is open for your submissions at 7.00 PM (CET) !!


Carpe Diem's Sweet Memories #1, Introduction


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I love to introduce a new feature on Carpe Diem Haiku Kai. A few days ago I read a few of my earliest haiku (in Dutch) again. Moemories started to flow and I thought ''maybe this is something I can use for our haiku-family''. So I created this new feature in which you are free to use any prompt to write a haiku with, but ... it has to be a haiku with ''(Sweet) Memories'' so you may share an old one or write a new one, but there has to be a story bound to it.
For example a haiku to celebrate the birth of a child, or a wedding, or maybe a haiku which is special for you written for joy or by another haiku-poet than yourself. For this feature there is just one ''rule'':

Share your (sweet) memories, have fun and feel free.

For this episode I love to share a haiku with a very nice sweet memory. It was the first haiku ever which I wrote when I was in my early twenties. Back in those times I hever had heard about haiku, but I wrote short poems already. A girl-friend, from school (I was studying pedagogy), than an origami-artist, pointed me at haiku. She gave me a book about haiku written by a Dutch writer and Japanologist. That book, simply titled ''Haiku, a young moon'', was an eye-opener and I was sold and addicted to haiku. Haiku became my kind of poetry and a part of my life. That first haiku (in Dutch) I had to translate into English was my first haiku ever was the following:

bamboo rustles
brings the mind into ecstasy
whispers secrets


(c) Chèvrefeuille

A wonderful memory. A smile on my face as I think back at those times as I started writing haiku, a life changing event. As I look at my haiku nowadays than they have evolved to a kind of signature, my own style.




Well ... I hope you did like this new feature and this first episode. This episode of ''Sweet Memories'' will stay on until January 15th 11.59 AM (CET) and is NOW OPEN for your submissions. Have fun, feel free and remember ... at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai there are no obligations ...


Carpe Diem Sneak Preview #3, Some changes in the first quarter of 2014 and looking forward to the second quarter.


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

First I love to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. A New Year will start soon ... a whole new year ahead of us in which I hope that Carpe Diem Haiku Kai will evolve further and that our haiku-family will grow ... I hope you all will stay part of this haiku-family, because I can't miss you.




As I wrote earlier in a Sneak Preview I planned a two months pilgrimage to Shigoku. That will happen, but ... I will start that pilgrimage not in January, but in February. Why? Well ... I thought ''We are going on a pilgrimage in Japan on the Isle of Shikogu, but first we have to go there. How do we go there? With a plane, a car or boat? No, we will arrive there by train''. We will start our Shigoku Pilgrimage in January with taking the Trans Siberian Railway, the longest railway on our planet straight through the Soviet Union. We will visit a lot of wonderful places. And to lead us straight through the Soviet Union by train we will have the novel 'Aleph' by Paulo Coelho in our hand that will be the perfect preparation to start our Shikogu-pilgrimage in February. We will explore our deeper thoughts and 'catch' them in beautiful haiku.




After our Shigoku-pilgrimage we will stay another month in Japan to enjoy and discover the most wonderful festivals and celebrations of the country that gave us haiku.
And as I said in that earlier Sneak Preview we will have not in April, but in May a whole month of Carpe Diem Specials in which I will share haiku written by the ancient and classical haiku-poets for your inspiration. That will be a great month and I am enjoying already the compilation of haiku I love to share that month with you all. The most beautiful haiku will come along that month. Haiku written by wellknown haiku-poets, but also by less known haiku-poets (and poetesses).

Of course 2014 will bring months of wonderful prompts and inspirational music. I hope to have a new month full of inspirational music in June, I am already searching for a wonderful musician and I think that musician will be a joy to listen to ... I will keep you posted on this. And I hope to do another month of Tan Renga Challenges.

looking forward
to another wonderful year
full of haiku


It's a joy to make Carpe Diem for you all, my dear haiku-family-members, and I hope you all will enjoy Carpe Diem too.
More Sneak Previews will follow on an irregular base and I have a few nice new features for you this upcoming year. The first new feature I will introduce to you later on this week. It's called ''Sweet Memories'' and I hope that new feature will give you the same joy as I had as I was creating it.

For closure I love to share another idea with you all. I love to create a kind of Anthology of our first two years of Carpe Diem, but that idea is still young and has to grow further ... maybe later in the next year I can harvest that idea and share it with you all. Well ... I have brougth some light into the future of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai and I hope Carpe Diem will continuing to grow ...




Namaste

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Carpe Diem #349, Kingdom of Bards


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am a bit early with posting, but there are a few circumstances why I post already. Nothing serious by the way. And I have to confess that I am still hopelessly behind with commenting. Sorry guys I hope to catch up soon.
We are almost halfway in this month of Carpe Diem's Inspirational Music by Adrian von Ziegler and I am so glad and happy that you all liked the music of this young promising musician and I hope you will continue to listen to his wonderful music. He's a modern-times Bard and with that I have bridged the path to our new episode of Carpe Diem.
Today I love to share another beautiful music-video composed by Adrian. This little wonder is titled ''Kingdom of Bards'' and could be easily a follow-up for our last four episodes which started with ''Prophecy'', the short musical story. Sit back, relax and enjoy this wonderful music.




I can almost feel this fragility which was so common in Medieval times ... the sweet sound of the Lute so fragile and tender ... must be an amazing instrument to play. I hope you liked the music and I hope it inspired you to write haiku to share with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.

fragile lute
fills the summer evening
shining red wine

Well ... did you like this haiku? Another attempt:

the sound of angels
resonating with the wind
a bard's lute

Awesome ... a beauty. I know it's immodest, but I have learned to give myself also a tap on the shoulder (smiles).
This episode will stay on until December 16th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our new episode, the third Special by Hando, later on today around 7.00 PM (CET). !! Kingdom of Bards is open for your submissions at 7.00 PM (CET) !!


Friday, December 13, 2013

Carpe Diem's Little Ones #8, ''Cinquain''


Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I am late with this new episode of our ''Little Ones'' feature about other short poetry forms. Today I have chosen for the Cinquain, a (as it's name already says) five (5) line poem with also specific rules. Let me tell you a little bit more about the Cinquain.

At its most basic level, 'cinquain' simply means a stanza (or poem) with five lines. However, the word also refers to either of two more specific types of five-line poems. The first type is usually centered to give it a diamond shape and has the following format:

First line: a one-word subject or title.
Second line: two adjectives which describe the subject.
Third line: three verbs relating to the subject.
Fourth line: four words forming a phrase, sentence, or set of feelings relating to the subject.
Fifth line: one word which summarizes the poem or restates the subject.


The second and more traditional type is simpler and requires only that the pattern of syllables per line in the poem is 2, 4, 6, 8, 2. (In other words, the first line has two syllables, the second has four, etc.)

A nice little poetry form I think. I have never composed a Cinquain, so to me this is new ... very new. Of course I will stay at the second (more traditional) form with the syllables. And I have found a nice Cinquain which I first like to share here. It's written by Zhanna P. Rader and so the copyright belongs to her.


Red Poppies

Flaming Poppies

Blowing
their scarlet free,
the poppies in the glen;
and here's to sing their majesty
a wren.

The red
flames swell and surge,
caught in his vocal art,
and rescue from its numbing dirge
a heart.


(c) Zhanna P. Rader

Red Rose Petals

And here is my attempt to write a Cinquain:

petals
of red roses
covering the carpet
in front of the fireplace
your heart

your heart
once given
unconditional
still beats for my life's sake
my sweet love


This episode of Carpe Diem's Little Ones will stay on until January 15th 11.59 AM (CET) and is NOW OPEN for your submissions. Have fun, be inspired and share your Cinquain (or other short poem (no haiku) with us all here at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.