Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Path of the Honeysuckle #1

Also shared with: The Poetry Pantry of Poets United


Dear Haijin, visitors, friends,

I would like to introduce to you a new series of blogposts which I have given the title "The Path of the Honeysuckle". As you know Chèvrefeuille is French for Honeysuckle (or in Dutch: Kamperfoelie) and Honeysuckle is a wonderful flower with a very nice sweet perfume, but it also has a deeper meaning. In her deeper spiritual meaning Honeysuckle is the path of wisdom to find your inner self.
Maybe Honeysuckle did do that for me, but there is of course another reason why I have chosen the 'nom du plum' Chèvrefeuille. I try to write my haiku in the classical Kanshicho-style (as performed several years by Matsu Basho (1644-1694)), but I am also a big fan of the classical way to take another pseudonym as a haiku poet. Well ... that's not everything yet. I was born in a city called Kampen (that's here in The Netherlands) and I love the Honeysuckle. In Dutch Honeysuckle is Kamperfoelie and so I thought I am born in Kampen so I have to choose a pseudonym which I associate with that city. So I took Chèvrefeuille for a 'nom de plum'.
My first haiku I wrote was a haiku with Honeysuckle in it, I can't remember the right one, but I think it was such as:

midsummer night -
the scent of Honeysuckle
tickles the senses


It's a nice one I think and it's a haiku with some deeper meaning. In this one I think the deeper meaning is in tickles the senses. Why? The scent of the Honeysuckle, so sweet and delicious does remind me to my first encounter with my lovely wife. She had a perfume called Chèvrefeuille and that scent made me mad and tickled my senses ... smiles.

In this new series I will try to publish old and new haiku in which I am going to search for the deeper, spiritual meaning in it. As you know from the Tackle It Tuesday preview, back to basic a deeper meaning is one of the classical (and modern) haiku rules. So enjoy this new series ... and if you have a comment on it please share it with me. Thank you.

Chèvrefeuille

1 comment:

joanne said...

thanx for sharing about the honeysuckle and how you chose it .....I look forward to reading this series, and hopefully delving more deeply into classical haiku....I like the idea of a deeper meaning.....sometimes I think I do not think deeply enough....