Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation: The Cold Night

Image by aalmeidah from Pixabay

spring snow

purifies earth and heaven

the cold night

spring snow

covering flowers and trees

a threatening frost

covering flowers and trees

a spring freeze will destroy buds

a hard summer comes

the cold night

emerging from the dream world

the people awake

~cie~

notes

We were charged with creating a fusion-ku from the following two Haiku and a Troiku from the fusion-ku.

spring snow

purifies earth and heaven

our enemies perish

© Mizuhara Shûôshi

the cold night

comes out of the stones

all morning

© Jim Kacian

Carpe Diem New Beginnings: Reincarnation Wave

shrouded memories

wash to the shore like a wave

lives unremembered

shrouded memories

creeping up from the dark past

preying on my mind

wash to the shore like a wave

I wish I could float away

forgetting this strife

lives unremembered

hiding in my troubled mind

preparing to spring

~cie~

notes

We were given two Haiku by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016) with which to create a "fusion-ku," and from there, to create a Troiku. Here are Jane's Haiku. My "sleigh" is a Senryu rather than a Haiku, but so it goes.

a huge wave

thundering across the beach

my birthday

sky-clad

the new-born comes wrapped

in previous lives

Carpe Diem #1789: Winter Trees

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

axe unfolding wood

the lumberjack's hand brings down

winter trees on snow

axe unfolding wood

scent of oils rising from bark

mighty giants fallen

the lumberjack's hand brings down

sturdy wood to build new homes

and for furniture

winter trees on snow

they can serve the people well

if culled thoughtfully

~Cie~

Sustainable forestry practices allow us to live in harmony with nature.

Notes:

This Troiku was created from a fusion Haiku inspired by a pair of Haiku by Yosa Buson (1716 - 1784).

cutting into with the ax,

I was surprised at the scent.

the winter trees.

unfolding at the

hand of the glass polisher:

a camellia!

© Yosa Buson

Carpe Diem #1784: Rain at the Crossroads

Image Source

soaking wet signpost

I try to read while trudging

through wet pampas grass

soaking wet signpost

water running in my eyes

watercolor rain

I try to read while trudging

always try to do too much

must learn to focus

through wet pampas grass

the signpost just up ahead

slips further away

Santoka Taneda & Cie

Notes:

The assignment today was to take two Haiku by Santoka Taneda (3 December 1882 – 11 October 1940) and turn them into a single Haiku, then turn that Haiku into a Troiku. 

Here are the two original Haiku:

soaking wet

I can’t read the letters

on the signpost

walking through

the bush clover, the pampas grass,

walking on through them

© Santoka Taneda

Carpe Diem #1777: A Fusion of Seasons

Image by aalmeidah from Pixabay

cricket silence

between scraping sounds

autumn begins

© Jane Reichhold

it touches the line

of my fishing pole -

this summer moon

© Chiyo-Ni

summer fishing done

as the crickets fall silent

autumn now begins

summer fishing done

we must prepare for winter

weather is too warm

as the crickets fall silent

will they return in the spring

species fall extinct

autumn now begins

the season that I love best

should not be so warm

~Cie~

Notes:

We were asked to create a fusion Haiku from the first two poems and then create a Troiku from the fusion Haiku. The Three Horses of the Apocalypse led my sleigh to weather that is unseasonably hot and dry. It should not be close to 80 degrees in Colorado in November. So I got all environmentally conscious on everyone and turned my Troiku to a Senryu, because that's the kind of thing I do.

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Shadow

Photographer unknown

I

blue autumn skies

folded into mountains

purple shadow

blue autumn skies

stretching endless before me

skies blue like your eyes

folded into mountains

a felled giant lies sleeping

dreaming of the past

purple shadow

falls over eyes which can't cry

I have seen too much

Jane & Cie

II

such a hot day

my shadow needs to cool down

under the willow

such a hot day

sun beats down unrelenting

upon troubled earth

my shadow needs to cool down

it steals away and leaves me

muscles wracked with pain

under the willow

I find trouble waiting there

in the form of thought

Kyoshi & Cie

Note:

The "sleigh" of the first Troiku was created by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016). The "sleigh" of the second Troiku was created by Kyoshi Takahama (1874 - 1958). I wrangled all the horses.

I have chronic, widespread, low-grade pain from fibromyalgia and am constantly hot and easily fatigued due to my various endocrine problems. The summer is not my friend.

Grover and Clem aren't bothered by this weather, seeing as Grover is a ghost and Clem is a mutant Cactus Man, or maybe a Man Cactus.

Visit the Artist

Visit the Artist

Visit Grover and Clem and follow the Grover Hotel renovations at the Good Stuff from Grover blog!

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Outdoor Shower

Image by Ambady Sasi from Pixabay

I
outdoor shower
bathed in sun colors
of hot water

outdoor shower
a little bird looks out from
the branches of home

bathed in sun colors
its black and yellow feathers
so like clouds and light

of hot water
heat of summer relentless
even for a bird

II
slipping into the pool
naked divides the night
sun-warmed waters
.
slipping into the pool
comes a nighttime visitor
a stealthy raccoon

naked divides the night
those that hide in the daytime
appear bold at dusk

sun-warmed waters
a pleasure as it paddles
silent in shadow

Jane & Cie

Notes:

I was honestly stuck with this one. Then it came to me, like flash--like a vision! I just wrote it down.

The "sleighs" of these two Troiku were written by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016). The unruly "horses" were led to water by me.