Inspired by the theme at
Almost over ... counting down the last days of September Heights. Today we have battlefield for prompt. September Heights was a battlefield. Every day we had to write a haiku on a given theme. Sometimes it wasn't easy and sometimes it was. I have read wonderful haiku and (as I read the comments on my haiku) I think I have written nice haiku. There were difficult prompts for me, because English isn't my maiden language. I tried to write haiku on every given prompt. OK back to the prompt of today.
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| Source: Samurai |
When I read this prompt a haiku written by Basho came in mind. Basho wrote it at an ancient battlefield which he encountered during his 'Narrow Road to the Far North -- Oku no Hosomichi', one of his journeys. This battlefield at Takadachi was now just covered with grass. He wrote the next haiku when he encountered it and cried afterwards.
waving long grass
all that remains of ancient warriors
trace of dreams
(This is a translation of the original by myself: the original haiku in romaji is: natsukusa ya / tsuwamono domo ga / yume no ato)
If you have time ... please read Basho's Narrow Road to the Far North, it's a wonderful haibun. I have read it several times and enjoyed it very much. Every time I read this haibun I encounter new things, new deeper meaning. Really it's worth reading.
Let's go and do some haiku writing on 'battlefield'.
a bridge to far
allies taking the wrong way
peace in reach
unknown soldier
slaughtered on the battlefield
no more dreaming
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| The Unknown Soldier - Moscow |
my battlefield
writing haiku every day again
can't find the words
can't find the words
writing in a foreign language
my battlefield
Hm ... quite good I think. Love the differences in these haiku. Enjoy the read.
By the way: October 1st I will kick-off a new daily haiku meme Carpe Diem, seize the day. Be welcome to share your haiku with us.
21 comments:
Your poems are so thoughtful and deeply felt! I especially loved the second one. Heartbreaking!
I like the idea of being in a battlefield when we are writing our haiku! So this whole month of September Heights we have been on the battlefield! I think we will all come out of it as glorious soldiers!
You've written a very interesting series of haiku on the "battlefield" prompt. All well done. My favourite is the "unknown soldier" one :-)
The unsung heroes are the ones who ought to be honored but left on the wayside. Nice thoughts Kris!
Hank
I do think you've left the battlefield unscathed with a medal of distinction!
Everybody is a true winner, including you Kristjaan san! Two more days to go before the Sept battle ends. Cheers to your effort as they have been worthy of all praise.
A lovely haiku set ... loved each one of them !!!
I find the second one very sad but I like it.
We don't fight in all the battlefields you have here. But we accept it as a challenge to whet our desire to succeed. Nicely Kris!
Hank
Thx for all your awesome comments. My faborite is the one about the unknown soldier. How many unknown soldiers died for peace?
Wow. Lots of talent here. Well done, especially for writing in a foreign language.
I'm right there with you on the daily writing battlefield!
Battlefield
salute to those unknown soldiers..awesome take ...and yes for the sept battle all of us have tried well to put our best foot forward...cheers
Nice job. I liked the unknown soldier especially, but thank you also for sharing more background. Very interesting.
These are so well done.
I love how the first set harkens back to Basho's poem. The second is wonderful, of course.
September haiku has certainly been a challenge for me, but I have really enkoyed reading the other posts.
I am truly amazed that you write such beautiful poetry in a language that is not easy even for native speakers. Your second haiku for battlefield is very powerful.
Thank you all for being together on this September Heights journey.
Awesome words you all sprinkle on me.
All of your haiku poems are very fine and deep. My regards.
Kaa.Na.Kalyanasundaram
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